


Fate/Alternate Dream

by Elyssian



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Fate/stay night - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Gen, Multiverse clusterfuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-06 15:52:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4227786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elyssian/pseuds/Elyssian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Holy Grail Wars, where a series of battles between magi act as the ritual for the summoning of the Holy Grail. Attracted by the concept of an omnipotent wishing device, magi of flocked to the battleground.<br/>But after the catastrophe of the Third Holy Grail War, 70 years of silence followed.<br/>Wisdom and fear won over the greed and desire of the Mages. For seven decades, they did nothing to seek out the Grail. It was long since assumed that in this time the Mages had put the Grail far behind. </p><p>That was a wistful notion. </p><p>The mages did what they did best. They examined, assumed that they could fix it and repeated their mistakes. </p><p>They designed the Alternate Grail.</p><p>(HIATUS/Re-writing)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue I, [Zero Years]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prologue part 1, the arrival of the grail and the selection of masters

Question: What is the Holy Grail war?  
  
Answer: A disguised ritual we used to hold in order to reach 「 **Akasha, the root of all creation** 」. Once every sixty years, seven Magi were selected by the original Holy Grail to participate in an epic battle royale for its wish-granting ability. These Magi summoned heroic spirits selected through the FATE system from the 「 **Throne of Heroes** 」 to act as servants. To be the victor, a magus-servant pair must eliminate every other pair to prompt the appearance of the Grail.  
  
Question: Why have there been three wars so far?  
  
Answer: The Grail did not appear in the first war due to the ritual being incomplete. So we conducted another ritual, which produced the same results: a grail that did not appear. So we conducted a third, slightly modified ritual…  
  
Question: Why have there been _only_ three Wars?  
  
Answer: … The third War… a fluke occurred.  
  
Question: A fluke?  
  
Answer: The Grail corrupted. It summoned… odd servants. It was not safe to continue using that ritual.  
  
Question: Then what is the _Alternate Grail War?_  
  
Answer: The solution to our mistake. The perfected ritual for summoning a grail.  
  
Question: Are you sure you this new ritual will work?  
  
Answer: ... No.  
  
Last Question: Where have you set up the ritual?  
  
Answer: We assembled it over the grounds of the old ritual. In Fuyuki, Japan.  
  


* * *

  
Under the cover of England's rains, a building stood.  
  
Named after an English monument, the Clock Tower was hidden from the prying eyes of ordinary humans through extraordinary means.  
  
The fantastical power known as ‘magic’ shrouded this building. Rain made it's appearance within the building grounds but the brunt of it was batted away by unseen forces. The same could be said of snow and, to the upset of some, sun. Why was this building guarded by the greatest fantasy of man?  
  
Because this was a building where said fantasy lay in great abundance.  
  
On the surface, students with skill in magecraft were gathered in the Clock Tower halls to be taught the art for many years. Exemplary magi were groomed and produced. When ready, they were released into the world to further the progress of magecraft. The Clock Tower has excelled in this area, surpassing its sibling institutes, Atlas and the Sea of Astray, by leaps and bounds.  
  
But first and foremost it houses the great Mage Association, the heart of the seclusive society of magi. In world where the secret of magic galavanted about like unbidden fairies the Association was perhaps the greatest mystery. It's director to this day remained faceless. But the Association is perhaps a discussion to shelves for another time.  
  
In this building, an assembly had been dismissed. It was rather special assembly held to inform related parties concerning the new Fuyuki Grail war.  
  
To ‘inform’ about the required participation of Fuyuki's three founding families. Not ask.  
  
Jubstacheit von Einzbern and Matou Zouken had already surrendered the materials the Association needed, the former also ceding his granddaughter. The only thing they lacked was the Tohsaka's support. Tohsaka Tokiomi was reluctant, and reasonably so, to surrender his piece of knowledge pertaining to Heaven's Feel. That missing third was vital. The mages feared that any minuscule misstep would snatch away their chance at Akasha, as close as it was. Worse, it might call the Counter Force.  
  
Persistent pressure on the sixth Tohsaka head led to him surrendering a year ago. A grudging surrender, but surrender nonetheless.  
  
The preparations for the Alternate Grail war in ten years were set to begin at the time where the fourth holy grail war had been set to start in the mid 90s. Our story however begins in the first decade of the twenty first century, where several characters are brought to fill in the positions of the main players in the game for the Holy Grail.  
  


* * *

  
Emiya Kiritsugu rarely slept, and when he did he slept light. Light enough that footsteps outside his door and the first chirp from a morning bird would wake him. It was habit he ingrained for the purpose of more turmoiled years but in a time where he presided in an area of peace it was perhaps a nuisance.Tonight, it would not be a nuisance for him to pick up the far of sounds of his son rushing to his room. By the time Emiya Shirou, aged five, poked his head in his room, Kiritsugu was already shaking off the last traces of drowsiness.  
  
“Kiritsugu? There's a white lady at the gate who wants to see you. She says her name is Ainsu- no, Einzbern?”  
  
If Kiritsugu wasn't awake yet, he was awake now.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
Eight years ago he took a job for a prestigious mage family hiding in Northern Europe. Good pay in the form of cash and information coupled with a comfortable risk. He nothing else pending his notice so he accepted. He went to get a certain artifact, a piece of an ancient ship.  
  
Then the second part of his job came into light.  
  
“Impregnate a homunculus.”  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
Kiritsugu ran out to where Maiya had already let them in.  
  
In the courtyard, was Irisviel von Einzbern and a child who could only be theirs.  
  
Illyasviel von Einbern, aged eight.  
  


* * *

  
  
Tohsaka Rin, aged 5, had clear grasp on her abilities that was not shrouded by pride. If anything, insecurity ghosted over her.  
  
As far as mages went, she was horribly under-skilled. She had no fine control over her ability. What she was supposed to mend she destroyed. She was slightly ashamed to admit that at times she gazed upon her own father with envy.  
  
Tohsaka Rin's vision of reality however was another matter.  
  
Her ‘plan’ that night consisted of going to Fuyuki, finding her friend Kotone and rescuing her from the clutched of some manner of nefarious evil. _Maybe, she would also end up as a hero!_  
  
So off she snuck, without telling her own sister, guided into the depths of Fuyuki with a magic compass.  
  
 **“Führe mich.”**  
 _Guide me._  
  
Tohsaka Rin was entirely unprepared for when her compass led her directly to a serial killer's lair. She was entirely unprepared to become one child amongst many, half of whom were not alive. She unprepared for a scenario where she herself ended up getting kidnapped.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
Uryuu Ryuunosuke was a simple man. He worked easy jobs, slept where he could and made art in his free time. He led the ideal life of a person who did not seek money, but a satisfying, easy life.  
  
Of course, by ‘art’ Uryuu Ryuunosuke meant the murder of children and the ensuing desecration of their corpses.  
  
He killed people from other groups too, like women and the occasional man. But he preferred children because they were much easier ‘materials’ to obtain. So when the little girl walked right into his lair, Ryuunosuke was very pleased. In fact, he thought it was his lucky day. _Super cool!_  
  
 **\---**  
  
Cornered by a person who's evil exceeded the monsters of her imagination by leagues, Tohsaka Rin reacted much a frightened child with every right to be scared.  
  
She curled into a ball, tried to bite down a whimper, ignored the odd burn on the back of her right hand and thought of many things concerning her short life.  
  
I should've let Sakura eat the last bit of cake. I should have been nicer to Kotone. I should have told mom and dad I really love them. I really should have stayed at home.  
  
When the knife swung down towards her, Rin did not stay calm to await death. She screamed and swung her stinging hand upwards in an attempt to survive.  
  
Uryuu Ryuunosuke could safely say that happened next was something that never happened when he stabbed someone.  
  
From the minute space between his knife and the girl's skin, an explosion burst forth. For Rin, if she had her eyes open, her mage eyes would have registered the sudden compacting of mana in that space.  
  
Had the air not been knocked out of his lungs, the murderer would have loudly proclaimed ‘not cool!’ as the force comically blew him backwards. He did not get the chance to say those words when he landed on the cold, wooden floor for sometime in his ‘flight’ his chest had been introduced to a curved white blade. The blade sparked, before shattering into dust.  
  
Its owner occupied the space where the explosion had originated, and had the white blade's twin in his hand. Like it's sister, green light danced across the surface of the black blade before it shattered.  
  
Standing before Rin was the miracle that saved her life.  
  
The third servant of the Grail war, Archer.  
  
As the dark skinned man looked down on her, she thought she saw a twitch in his face.  
  
“Hey, short-stuff. You're my master?”  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
There was a cicada squirming on the wall. The presence that occupied it had been seething seconds ago. Now it was confused.  
  
 _“I'm growing!”_  
  
The man who had appeared- no, summoned, was no ordinary familiar. His power went far beyond that. There were very few things he could be and only one guess came to mind.  
  
The sad thing was, Kariya's guess was probably right.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
“Who are you anyway?”  
  
“You summoned me so shouldn't you know? I'm a servant.”  
  
His master probably didn't know. Geez, she probably ten. Why such a young age? If Archer managed to meet the grail again here he might give it the finger. ( _And why was it always Rin? The catalyst she had was a Tohsaka heirloom. Any grail participating Tohsaka could have summoned him so why was he always stuck with this troublesome, miniature tiger-_ )  
  
“A servant? Aren't you a familiar?”  
  
“I'm a type of familiar I guess. The difference is-”  
  
It so very like Rin to select what she wanted to hear, when she wanted to hear it and proceed to cut everything else out.  
  
“So you have to listen to me right? Quick, we've got to save everyone!”  
  
Archer considered ignoring her for the sake of it. But as it was, the filthy bar was crowded with unconscious children and Archer wasn't going to ignore them.  
  
“Okay. Let's call the police.”  
  
“What?”  
  


* * *

  
  
Caren Ortensia, aged 5, was a child of the cloth.  
  
Her father was a priest, and her mother a sickly women who died in her earlier memories. Her father raised her alone at first, but most often she was cared for by her grandfather and uncle.  
  
“You look like your mother. This may sound harsh, but your visage brings him sadness.”  
  
She understood that perfectly. She had been told to leave her interpretation as her father having loved her mother greatly. She expressed herself as was to be expected from someone raised surrounded by the teachings of god. (She hid, deep down, the knowledge that _she was not the person she was supposed to be.)_  
  
Barring the fact that her father, and his colleagues in the church's eighth assembly, were actually executors of rouge mages and monsters for the church, Caren led the life of a picturesque nun-to-be.  
  
‘To serve god’. That was what Caren had taken, with unwavering spirit, to be her purpose in life. That was what had been dictates since birth to be her path. She was already born with the a sensitivity to ‘evil’. Down to her last gene, she was made to be in the church.  
  
But strange red markings appeared on her hand this morning, and as her family bustled about in a state nearly reaching panic, Caren felt odd.  
  
Deep within her, she felt something coming and knew her path had changed.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
“To think, your daughter would be chosen Kirei! This is an honor, yes, but the risk-”  
  
Kotomine Risei had seen the depth of despair his son had sunken into after the death of his wife. The death of his daughter- that would bring him great pain again and as a father he could not bear to watch that. His adopted son, Tokisada, had remained silent. Risei knew why.  
  
“Not unless she summons a strong servant.”  
  
Kirei had spoken, and he had spoken with clear words. There was something hard in Kirei's eyes, determination that had hardened to steel.  
  
“I have in my possession a catalyst that will summon a very powerful servant.”  
  
“A catalyst?”  
  
“Once in a travel to Iraq, I obtained the remains of a certain heavenly bull. If used as a catalyst, one of the two who defeated it will most definitely be summoned.”  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
Caren's skill in eavesdropping was not exemplary. She had only caught the very ends of her father's words, that strangely reminded her of a vague story his colleague told her.  
  
A long time ago, there was a bull. It was divine, and if fate had been kind he could have been worshipped. Already he was bound to a goddess who loved him. But it was used in the ploy of a scorned goddess.  
  
As it was, the bull became the last creature defeated by a certain duo before one died and the other lost himself.  
  
If Caren remembered correctly, that was a heavily summarised fraction of an epic. What was it? He father had given it to her as a gift had in not?  
  
Caren drew away from door and searched her shelves. There it was, beside other well worn gifts from her father.  
  
The Epic of Gilgamesh.  
  


* * *

  
Emiya Shirou wanted to be hero of justice. Despite the odd dissuasion of his father, this dream prevailed. It had been seeded in him the day he was pulled from a burning city, the only survivor. It had been seeded in him when upon the face of his savour sheer joy was present, joy at saving someone. Of course it would be seeded into him, when he had abandoned the entirety in of his identity into the flames behind him for survival. Of course, when it seeded in his empty vessel, it became the core of his new existence.  
  
Being a hero of justice, Emiya Shirou absolutely had to soothe Illyasveil von Einzbern into sleep. Kiritsugu had said making girls and kids feels safe enough to sleep at night was a hero thing right? Illya was both a kid and a girl. Plus, she was his younger sister!  
  
“Mama says Kiritsugu is my papa.”  
  
“Really? That means I'm your older brother!”  
  
Shirou's infectious smile fed energy into the small albino girl. She was no longer on the borders of sleep, instead clinging to the waking world where this ‘brother’ resided.  
  
“What does a brother do?”  
  
Shirou's beam was sure.  
  
“As your brother, I'll do everything in my power to protect you!”  
  
Unnoticed, a spirit of sorts smiled.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
“Sorry for the trouble Maiya.”  
  
Hisau Maiya met Irisveil once eight years ago and the time they spent together was best described as a silent hour of indulging each other's presence. She was surprised that the madam remembered her face and the name that went with it.  
  
“Don't look surprised. You're an important person to Kiritsugu. Of course I would preserve my memory of you.”  
  
Her speech style was stilted, due to lack of a social surrounding and functioning differently from a human. Homunculi were designed, not born, thus ingrained knowledge was more deeply etched than normal.  
  
Maiya loses the image of a non-human she tries to create in her mind when Irisveil continues the conversation.  
  
“So are you and Kiritsugu married yet?”  
  
Damned if Maiya let herself lose her composure so easily. She hit Irisveil a question meant to make her falter. (She realised her mistake later. He question was geared to a Japanese person, raised in a seclusive society. Irisveil had no timidness, no standard demurity.)  
  
“Madam, Kiritsugu is more likely to take you as his wife than I.”  
  
Irisveil gave this little thought, but the answer she gave broke Maiya's stoney demeanour.  
  
“Then I suppose we can both marry him!”  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
Emiya Kiritsugu had grown into a kind, fatherly man. This fatherly man smiled when he looked in his two children then the two women he could safely say he loved. But the man who confronted the extra guest was not the same man. The man who faced down the entity in his courtyard was the man once hailed as the Mage Killer.  
  
“You are Illya's servant?”  
  
The form a giant flickered into existence, accompanied by the shimmer of prana. The giant was amazed when he was sensed, and even more so when his appearance did not shake the man before him.  
  
“Yes. I am the servant Berserker.”  
  
A short reply, asking him to get to the point.  
  
“What do you desire of Illya?”  
  
A question from a father. Berserker's response to him would form the basis of how Kiritsugu would treat him.  
  
“I desire to protect her.”  
  
At this, Kiritsugu became suspicious.  
  
“Explain.”  
  
“To summon me, that child had been tossed out into a snowstorm by the man who calls her a tool. With nothing but the catalyst she was provided, she ran through the snow chased by wolves. I am a heroic spirit, and before that a simple man. Her suffering was not something I could look away from. So in a dire moment, she summoned us and I vowed to protect this child. The other probably wants the same thing, because she also acted to defend Illya.”  
  
Kiritsugu's hatred for the head of the Einzbern would have to wait. Berserker had added something alarming to his tale.  
  
“She?”  
  
The mammoth man motioned to the shadows and from it emerged a cloaked woman who had evaded Kiritsugu's senses. She bowed out of politeness.  
  
“I am the servant Caster, under the Cherubim Master Illyasveil von Einzbern.”  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
Caster was not at fault. She was not at fault for the murder that made her infamous. If anything, she at fault for being a fool who allowed herself to be a pawn for the gods. A pawn so that olympus's favoured hero could rise to fame. She was heralded as a witch, so she could be the sin Jason fought and won gloriously against. Perhaps, she might take fault for accepting that role. But what did it matter that she did? The gods had already decreed her life be that of a murderer. She might as well live up to it.  
  
Why was she a Heroic Spirit?  
  
She was a witch, a murderer, a backstabbing enchantress. A mere side accessory to the name of Jason, the leader of the Argonauts. Why her, when an actual hero could have been summoned?  
  
When she summoned she understood. This was her elysium. Her chance at rising above her legend. Her chance at being someone else. To be the protector and not the destroyer.  
  
Yes, the princess of Colchis would protect Illyasveil von Einzbern against anything the world threw at her.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
Kiritsugu was wary.  
  
Iri informed him about the Grail war in as much detail as she could. He himself knew quite a bit from his travels. He knew that the servants you should be most wary of was Archer, Berserker and Caster. Archers had the 「Independent Skill」 that made their masters less of a necessity. Berserkers were a toll to sustain and often unheedful of orders. Casters were in many cases better mages than their masters, makinh them liable to simply overpower their masters and make puppets our of them  
  
Illya had two out of three problematic servants.  
  
“Berserker, what about the toll of your 「 **Mad Enhancement** 」on Illya?”  
  
“She does not have the power to fully use that. I am not currently capable of using that ability. She will not suffer.”  
  
Still, Kiritsugu's opinion of the servants were troublesome.  
  
As if sensing his disapproval, their master appeared in the courtyard. Illya was clad in one of Shirou's oversized shirts, her small frame having turned it into a dress. (Why was she so small? She was eight, not five. It was unusual.)  
  
“They're my friends. Don't be mean to them. Hercules and Medea helped me a lot.”  
  
If the brilliant smile his daughter (such strange word on his lips) gave him was supposed to be compensation for her servant's revealed identity, it was not accepted. Not accepted at all.  
  
Hercules and Medea-  
  
“Morning.”  
  
Kiritsugu croaked.  
  
“We'll discuss this in the morning.”  
  


* * *

  
  
Sajyou Ayaka had not been told anything beyond the very basics of the Alternate Grail war.  
  
Seven ranked masters. A minimum of seven servants amongst them. An omnipotent wish granting device they would fight for. To wish for Akasha.  
  
The hopes of the Sajyou family had been placed, sensibly, on her older sister Manaka. Manaka, who was the prodigal glory of the Sajyou household. Manaka was a superior mage to even their father, the command seals were sure to appear on her. So Manaka knew a considerable more about the war than her sister.  
  
The masters were classed. Although seven servants were the minimum, they expected each master to be able to summon two servants. A master couldn't summon more than one servant in the same class.  
  
And Manaka was absolutely sure that she would summon her hero, King Arthur. Her hero, her idol and the object of her obsessive love.  
  
She also knew the story of the third Grail war.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
In the third Holy Grail War of Fuyuki, several people tried very foolish things.  
  
A family renowned for their homunculi summoned an inverse Berserker, a new class called Avenger.  
  
A dying family managed to summon a force that should not have naturally appeared. (But they betrayed those who helped them.)  
  
Overly ambitious people planned the summoning of a divine concept, only realising later that their Rider was closer to a devil than a god.  
  
The caster summoned was a corrupt murderer and his master never restrained him.  
  
Saber had been split, and his masters worsened the split be going against each other.  
  
The war, safe to say, did not end well.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
Manaka had already outlined a clear plan for victory, centred around the fact she would surely summon the King of Knights. This plan failed right at stage one.  
  
The command seals appeared on Ayaka.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
Ayaka was an ideal younger sister. She idolised Manaka to a degree, didn't argue very much and would not admit that even she could tell that her sister was a few screws short of a functioning appliance.  
  
Thoughts on her sister's unhinged mind return to her mind in the summoning ritual. Manaka was staring at her, twitching and murmuring. Their father Hiroki had unconsciously moved nearer to Ayaka, perhaps out of revulsion for his eldest's obsession or worry for his youngest.  
  
“You're going to summon my Arthur.”  
  
Ayaka looked away from her sister, and cast her eyes down to her catalyst. A piece of the original round table. This would most definitely summon a knight of Camelot. Perhaps the better famed ones like Lancelot, Kay or Gawain. Ayaka sincerely hoped that it was the king, or at the very least someone who would defend her if Manaka attacked.  
  


* * *

  
Tohsaka Sakura had a very big secret she kept from her parents. She talked to bugs.  
  
This itself was not much of a problem for an elementary school student who was expected to have the vivid imagination.  
  
The true secret was that the bugs were her Uncle Kariya, watching over her and her family.  
  
The bugs would tell her when a bully at school was coming, when to hide her gems because mom was sneaking in the hallway to check on them.  
  
It took her a lot of practice to understand the bugs but she had learned to catch the gist of their thoughts. Tonight's bug however was a bit of a mystery.  
  
She didn't understand why the fly buzzing around her bed in a pseudo lullaby panicked so much when the red flower appeared on her hand. It was pretty and it wasn't hurting her. But since uncle Kariya was so worried she should probably check the library for this. It was magic, she could tell. The Library had many things on magic. She would go to the library and resolve this without waking her parents.  
  
As she got up, Sakura failed to notice her sister's empty bed.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
The story her mom told her was uncle Kariya had a bad family who treated him badly. So he went away to a better place to get away from his bad family. Mom said that uncle Kariya had been a good person from a bad family and he was in good place now.  
  
Her father doesn't tell her any stories.  
  
(Uncle Kariya himself didn't say much about what happened to him. Sakura got the idea that his grandfather had done something very mean to him but that was it.)  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
The library had books that Rin liked to read. Sakura read more than the usual child of her age, but she preferred the art. Father put lovely paintings and sculptures in the library. The paintings were all out of reach and the sculptures were placed on high shelves. Through she couldn't reach them, Sakura enjoyed gazing upon them. Sakura's favourite was always the newest.  
  
The newest sculpture arrived a week ago. It was a woman, with long hair that curled into snaked and sadly bowed her head down. Her eyes were closed, and in her lap was a dagger. Father said the woman's name was Medusa, and the sculpture came from the private stores of a roman emperor. Tokiomi did not know, but the statue had been made by said emperor. It was too big for a pedestal and stood alone in niche.  
  
Sakura liked to place her hand in the statue's, as a gesture of comfort. That was what she did now.  
  
Other time she did that, the statue didn't usually explode like it did.


	2. Prologue II, [Summons]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> masters are summoned to the battlefield, and berfore that we glimpse servants being summoned to this world

**{???- Seraphim}**

  
  
Atlas was a form of institute, though to an outsider it was more of a secluded country.  
  
It sheltered itself from the ordinary world with the mountains of Egypt. No traveller, lost or otherwise, would themselves crossing Atlas's boundary. To push away the prying eyes of those not-so-ordinary ones Atlas employed the use of seamless walls, made more of magecraft than stone and iron.  
  
By the nature of their rules Atlas's occupants did not usually leave their abode. It would perhaps be fact to say that more entered than left that place. Until recently, the source of frequent excursions was their Director, a young woman with perhaps too much wanderlust for an average Atlasian. Today, Atlas's director stands at the gates again but it is not her who will be leaving.  
  
“Go straight to Fuyuki. The war will take place there.”  
  
The girl Sion Eltnam Atlasia, the esteemed director of Atlas, addresses suits the region more than Sion herself, with the darker shade of skin. A closer look however, and her features will betray an origin in a different continent entirely. But however much an outsider will guess at her origin they will not arrive at it, for only a mage may guess that she is a homunculus.  
  
Rani VII was designed as an observer, originally for matters unspecified but Sion has specified it. Observe 「 **Heaven's Feel** 」. Return with a report. This is a job with parameters she is comfortable with. (Her creator had a more dangerous scenario in mind after all. Shame he never got the chance to specify that.)  
  
Rani's second job is the care of the person behind her.  
  
To call what resides in the metal cylinder a person is accurate. They may no longer retain a true physical form but Rani's interactions with them have left her unable to call them anything but human. She would go so far as to say that they had more humanity in them than she did. ‘They’ are what Sion addresses now that her orders to Rani are delivered.  
  
“You need not wish for Atlas. Wish for the world if you must, but first and foremost wish for yourself. Make so you have somewhere you may choose to go, instead of being bound to here.”  
  
The cylinder does not move, does not make any visible change, but a distorted voice emerges after a moment's pause.  
  
 _“Thank you.”_  
  
Then they leave, and Sion Eltnam Atlasia hopes that the next time they meet everything will be different. The person in cylinder wishes for the same thing, before lulling into what is not exactly a dream but more an inner world where seven await them.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
The first they had summoned was an accident. Their awareness had been limited, and without a catalyst the Grail chose for them a guardian. A knight in shining armour, if you must.  
  
The second one they had summoned through mere fancy. The selfless hero they dreamed of the Grail called for them. The Grail was very fond of them, it seemed.  
  
The third is unintentional. There is a catalyst, though it was not meant to be so, so the grail gives them the hero they've connected to. (They will like this one, the grail thinks.)  
  
The fourth is an experiment, so is the fifth and sixth. Little ventures and little favours from the grail bring it a troublesome companion, a good friend and a companion who is both there and not.  
  
The seventh is the result of a measure of bullying form it's Atlas compatriots. They force upon it someone who may win the grail they want for themselves. The director puts a stop to the summonings after this and decrees the deaths of their's bullies earned through provocation of their's last companion.

* * *

  
  
**{Illyasviel von Einzebern - Cherubim}**

  
  
Illya pandered about the halls, away from Kiritsugu's room since she knew he woke up easily. It would't be nice if she woke him up just because she needed a glass of water. Kiritsugu had that constant dead on his feet look. Illya wandered if her father slept at all.  
  
She circled her brother's room, shivering slightly in the winter air. She passed by the windows to the yard and paused. Outside, snow was lazily gliding down.  
  
 _Master, is everything alright?_  
  
Illya looked away.  
  
“It's fine Caster. You can appear if you want.”  
  
“If that's what you wish Master.”  
  
The air rippled, darkening until Caster's form appeared.  
  
“The snow reminded me some things, that's all.”  
  
Caster looked out the window. It was nothing like the blinding white she had first seen after she had been summoned but the nostalgia was understandable.  
  
“It's been five years since then, hasn't it Master?”  
  
Illya looked our again, and saw a different sky. A bleak, grey day from her memories.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
 _It's cold._  
  
This thought dominated her mind, her body wracked with tremors. She no energy to lift her arms and her fingers only held on to the catalyst because they had long since frozen.  
  
“This is a piece of the legendary ship 「 **Argo** 」. With this you may summon any of the great heroes who once tread its deck. Preferably, you will summon Heracles. Summoning Jason is more likely but that is acceptable.”  
  
What wasn't acceptable was the fact nothing had appeared after the ritual. Acht threw her out after that.  
  
 _“Perhaps this lesson may prompt better results from you.”_  
  
She was freezing now, and in the distance she could hear the sounds of wolves. The terror pushed her forward to where she had seen glimpses of towering grey stone. The snowstorm often obstructed the view of her hope, but she had been moving in a straight line the whole time. Surely, she would eventually reach safety.  
  
Then the first wolf jumped out and tore into her back. Unbeknownst to her, her scream had caused a circle in the shelter she strove towards to flare. It flared red, and exploded as mana compounded into that focus point, forming something against the natural order of the world.  
  
The sudden bloom of colour against the snow hurt her eyes at first, before her body remembered the patch of skin that was gone. She could see it in the wolf's jaw, flapping.  
  
She turned to run. The remaining wolves saw their chance to jump.  
  
They would never reach her, for if the volley of magic that broke apart the snowstorm did not kill them, the giant that followed finished them.  
  
“Berserker! Our master! Pick her up and I'll transport us to the castle!”  
  
Caster yelled over the returning winds. Berserker knew her and though he may not have placed his full trust in her, their Master would be safe in her hands. He swept away the last of the staggering beasts and scooped up the small, trembling form of their master. She blinked up at him, sensing the sudden disappearance of roaring winds. He said only one word before a configuration, magic from the age of gods, encircled them and teleported them.  
  
“Safe.”  
  
When the swirl of magic ceased, they were in the front hall of the castle. An old man awaited them.  
  
“I see you can be useful after all child.”  
  
Berserker and Caster felt their hackles rise. He would have been smote down where he stood had they not heard the cry.  
  
“Illya!”  
  
A woman flew down the stairs behind the old man, a mirror image of Illya. Her mother. Her haste caused her to crash into a metal knight in a niche along the wall. The sword it held clattered to the ground.  
  
“Irisviel. See here? Your child has been more useful than you-”  
  
Irisviel's fingers closed around the hilt of the blade.  
  
“How could you do that to her!”  
  
It was clear that Jubstacheit von Einzbern was used to total obedience from his homunculi. If he had any point in time considered the feelings that came with their sentience, he would not have been shocked when Irisveil used the blade she had ripped from the statue to decapitate him.  
  
She stood there, appalled at herself, watching the head roll into a corner. She flung the blade away, nearly screaming.  
  
“You.”  
  
Berserker's voice made her start, and part of him felt apologetic towards the shell shocked woman.  
  
“She is injured.”  
  
Berserker shifted the child in his arms and Irisveil flew forward.  
  
“Illya! Let me- I know healing magic-”  
  
So did Caster, but she felt it best to restrain herself. Berserker was eyeing her, and considering who Berserker was Caster knew it was wise to mind herself.  
  
As Irisveil's hands run down her back, closing wounds in their wake, Illya voiced out.  
  
“Mom…”  
  
“Yes dear?”  
  
“We can run away now right?”  
  
Irisveil's breath stuttered. Run? Run away from the inescapable house of Einbern?  
  
She looked back at Jubstacheit's corpse. The dead cadaver of Einzbern's head. She turns back to her daughter, her living miracle.  
  
“We can run as far as we want to now Illya. You can even meet your father now.”  
  
Illya smiles as she drifted off into tired sleep.  
  
“That's would be nice…”  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
“A lot has changed but… you're still calling me master even when I told you not to?”  
  
“Ah, that… does it matter?”  
  
“Yes it does, I want us to he friends!”  
  
At some point of time Berseker had joined them in spirit form, now rumbling in agreement. Over the years as Illya's mana grew like an uncontrollable flower, 「Mad Enhancement」 made itself more visible. Speech had narrowed to grunts, thoughts to garbles. Only one purpose remained.  
  
 _When the war starts, protect Illya at all costs._  
  


* * *

  
  
**{Tohsaka Sakura - Thrones}**

  
  
Sakura had been talking to the bugs again.  
  
This was odd to Saber and Rider when Sakura was five. They furrowed their brows when their Master leaned out of windows or hid in corners to address a beetle. But they did not say much. Were children not meant to be odd?  
  
But Sakura was ten now and her growing, disturbing habit showed no signs of disappearing. But they never said anything. They waited for her share her secret, like she had before.  
  
 _Saber, Rider. Do you know what the hollow element is?_  
  
Today it seemed, was the day Saber and Rider would be allowed to guard another secret.  
  
“Saber, Rider. I want to show you something before Aunt Bazett gets here.”  
  
Rin would summon her second servant soon, and her father had called favours for a catalyst. She was to summon an Irish hero, the greatest legend of his land. The whole house was restless as Tokiomi and Rin prepared. Aoi had gone out to the gardens for air. Sakura was now leading them to her new room, across Rin's.  
  
“I'm going to show you uncle Kariya!”  
  
“Who?”  
  
Rider did not speak often with the Tohsaka parents, both of them being wary of her and herself not speaking often. Saber however had heard the stories.  
  
Zenjou Aoi was once to be wedded to a man named Matou Kariya. But his family hid dark things, and when Kariya came of age he disappeared. Matou Zouken said he was dead. Aoi married Tohsaka Tokiomi. The girls have only seen one picture of their ‘uncle’.  
  
Saber has seen this picture. It had a haggard man in it, thin and boney. Sad physical state, she thought. But she also thought the smile he had made up for it. If one could be that happy, one needed not much else.  
  
Sakura shows them her room. In it, a swarm of bugs have gathered. Through the swirl, Saber spots the the cheekbones visible through a thin face, a trademark sweatsuit and the smile. It looked a little saddened now.  
  
“Hello.”  
  
 ** _\---_**  
  
Briefly, Kariya recalls the night Sakura summoned her servants. He was watching of course, as he always had first over Aoi then her children.  
  
It was perhaps fortunate that Sakura had eased them enough to make their weapons dematerialise before her parents burst in.  
  
Tokiomi saw his daughter sitting in the eye of an storm. Around her were titled shelves, strewn books and glass from a shattered window. The chair that accompanied the study desk was halfway across the room and barely salvageable. Scorch marks were speared around the room, most likely magic in origin. There was a perfect circle of clean carpet where Sakura knelt.  
  
Tokiomi could deal with the mess later. What he had to deal with now where the two women who knelt in front of his daughter, both scandalously dressed.  
  
“Sakura, who are these people?”  
  
Tokiomi held his wife at the doorway while he moved closed. Sakura blinked at them, confused by their wariness.  
  
“They say they're ‘Servants’, father. They say I'm their Master.”  
  
Tokiomi's face twitched. These were terms he knew well. Just last week he'd been called to an assembly where these terms were a discussed topic.  
  
The woman in the red dress looked at him expectantly.  
  
“Art thee this child's father? I must say, what an exemplary daughter thou have brought up, to be capable of summoning one as great I at this age.”  
  
Tokiomi held on to his calm.  
  
“I'm afraid this is a mistake. Sakura did you do a summoning ritual?”  
  
She shook her head, then pointed at the unscathed statue he had brought in last week. Tokiomi saw something red on the back of her hand. Command seals, in the shape of a six-petaled flower.  
  
“I just touched the statue.”  
  
The red dressed woman turned and beamed.  
  
“I see! Thou haveth in your possession an artwork of mine! But pray tell, how was this boldly dressed companion of mine summoned?”  
  
If Tokiomi thought the artist's dress with its transparent skirt was bad, the other was worse. She had a strapless, low cut dress that revealed twice the amount of skin her companion did. At least she covered some off this up with thigh high boots and gloves.  
  
“The subject of your statue. That was the catalyst.”  
  
“Pardon?”  
  
Everyone watched the purple haired woman as her hair split into locks of their own accord. The strands turned into scales and hissing noises arose from it. Sakura gasped as the first snake slithered over her shoulder.  
  
Stunned silence was interrupted by distant ringing. The house phone. Tohsaka Aoi, whom everyone forgot was standing at the door, rushed away to answer it.  
  
“My, thou art the great Medusa herself! Tell me, what class have you been summoned under.”  
  
“I am a Rider. Are you someone from my lands?”  
  
Sakura was interested to know about them too, so she looked at the sculptor expectantly.  
  
“Nay, I am a roman. I am the great Emperor Nero, here to serve this young master as a Saber. Speaking of which, you have not told us your name Master.”  
  
Sakura beamed as she joined the conversation.  
  
“I'm Tohsaka Sakura!”  
  
It was that point her mother returned, with a face that could only be called aghast.  
  
“Tokiomi! The police just called! Rin's in downtown Fuyuki!”  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
They got over it in an hour. Dead uncle was now a ghost, okay. Saber has Lemures in her land, dead guardians and voices of counsel. Kariya was not much different. Rider seemed ready to accept anything their master said, as she always had.  
  
"Is this because of what the Association said?"  
  
The magus's governing body had decreed that it would be fair for the Tohsaka to surrender one child to the Matous. To aid an old family and even then scales of war.  
  
For a show of loyalty, more like it. Saber and Rider did not remember the magi of their eras being so sinister. (Rider remembers the magi of her era being eccentrics but she didn't need to mention that.)  
  
"Your Uncle offers aid then? Good man."  
  
Kariya gave Saber a wan smile.  
  
"Yep. Uncle Kariya is going to help us make it in the Matou manor. The family head is kinda evil."  
  
Rider offered a suggestion at this. The words froze the room.  
  
"Should we not simply slay him?"  
  


* * *

  
  
_**{Tohsaka Rin - Dominions}** _

  
  
“You're Cu Chullain?”  
  
“Yep. You're my master?”  
  
“Yeah! I'm the Dominions rank master, Tohsaka Rin!”  
  
“Nice to meet you then, Rin.”  
  
Rin liked her Lancer. She had only known him for several minutes, but she could almost say that she like him better than her Archer. Her Archer had the perpetual scowl that nullified any points he gained for cooking and making tea. Her Lancer had a nice guy aura! And of course…  
  
“Bend down a bit!”  
  
“Okay?”  
  
He knelt, and his ponytail curled against the stone atelier floor. Rin squinted at him and patted his face.  
  
“I guess Aunt Bazett is right. You're kinda pretty.”  
  
He snorted.  
  
“Kinda? Last I checked I was most definitely pretty.”  
  
Rin laughed and introduced the woman in the shadows.  
  
“This is Aunt Bazett Fraga McRemitz. She got your earrings!”  
  
She pointed to the box where the catalyst was, then lowered her voice.  
  
“You're her hero.”  
  
Ireland's child of light tipped his head back and laughed.  
  
“Is that so?”  
  
He watched the woman redden and cough.  
  
“Rin, I need to leave soon. Why don't you introduce him to Archer?”  
  
Rin looked disappointed. She turned and bounced up the stairs, the pendant gifted to her at birth bouncing on her chest.  
  
“Okay. Archer's upstairs. I'm making him make lunch.”  
  
Lancer paused mid step, joined by Bazett.  
  
“You're making him do what?”  
  
“Don't worry, Archer's grumpy but he cooks nice food.”  
  
What a way to use a heroic spirit! Lancer laughed and patted Bazzet's head with Rin's.  
  
“An Archer huh? Nice job master, you've got one servant for melee and another for long distance.”  
  
Rin grinned. She did not smile, but she grinned and her eyes lit with a spark.  
  
“We're going to annihilate the others!”  
  
Oh, Lancer loved this master.  
  


* * *

  
  
**{??? - Virtues}**

  
  
A gift to someone, though it was wholly sarcastic.  
  
 _Something fitting for you, Kiritsugu. A symbol of all the world's evil._  
  
He left it in a corner of the atelier, forgotten.  
  


* * *

  
  
**{Sajyou Ayaka - Powers}**

  
  
On the flight to Fuyuki, both Saber and Rider sit by her. Rider is expected. He is wowed by nearly everything in this new age, from cars to phones. The neon pink flip-phone he begged of her mother is well loved, decorated by stickers he begged of Ayaka. Saber however is a surprise.  
  
“I want to see modern stuff.”  
  
She seemed fascinated by the concept of flight at first, but grew disappointed at the lack of action.  
  
“Really? We just sit?”  
  
“Yep.”  
  
Ayaka left her alone to survey the more interesting skyline outside, watching the glow of lights. As she drifted into dreams, she remembered a day five years ago.  
  
 ** _\---_**  
  
Sajyou Hiroki felt his gut sink. The smoke from the ritual had cleared on his yet and not on Manaka's side, thank goodness. Even he could see that the knight Ayaka summoned was not King Arthur.  
  
“Ayaka, go upstairs with your Saber, I'll talk to your sister.”  
  
Ayaka hadn't been able to tell at first, but her father had just confirmed the worst- she had failed. With nothing left to do but hang her head, she reached forward to tug at her servant's gauntlets. The armoured knight who could only be Saber followed her with surprising obedience.  
  
The plodded and clinked their way out of the basement in verbal silence. Once they closed the atelier doors, Ayaka turned to face her servant.  
  
“I'm sorry. My sister wanted me to summon someone else.”  
  
It was then Ayaka first heard her servant's voice, as distorted as it was through her helm.  
  
“Why do you worry? You are the summoner. Not her.”  
  
“I suppose your right. My sister- Manaka, she's just always been so obsessed with King Arthur.”  
  
Saber chuckled.  
  
“Many women fancied my father greatly back in the day.”  
  
“Your father?”  
  
The atelier door scraped open. Ah, here was her father and sister.  Ayaka tried to back away from it but something large had fallen through it.  
  
She looked down in time to see a small splat of blood on her socks.  
  
“You didn't get my Arthur.”  
  
Sajyou Manaka stepped over her father's corpse, murder in her eyes.  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
If Saber had the time, she'd have said something snarky that disregarded the atmosphere. Would have thrown off the sister too. _Gee, master, obsessed doesn't really cut it._  
  
She only had time to step in front of her screaming master, letting the hail of barbed magic-enhanced feathers ricochet off her armor. The maddened girl then flung herself at the servant, livid to the point where she was suicidal.  
  
“Don't kill her!”  
  
Somehow Saber knew her master would say something like that, so she scooped the sister with the flat of her blade and lightly flung her across the room. ‘Lightly’ meaning with enough strength to break the door obstructing her flight.  
  
“Saber!”  
  
“In case you haven't noticed Master, your sister has proved her skill in murder.”  
  
She looked down again. Her father had feathers running down his back at odd angles, signs that he died unaware. The blood pooled heavily to left, and Ayaka reached for her father's unscathed right hand. She fingered his prized bracelet with the sealed hippogriff feather. She had lain one finger on it before a mana-feather penetrated her wrist.  
  
Ayaka ripped her hand away and screamed, splattering blood over the rest of her father. Downstairs, a crash sounded. Saber yanked her back as Manaka's form reappeared in the doorway, seething. She started to advance when the atelier doors gave way.  
  
Saver inclined her head to the newcomer. A servant, from the aura and clothing. Ayaka's second, but summoned when? When Ayaka was injured there was a crash…  
  
“You! What's your class?”  
  
The second servant soaked in the scene. Master, in danger and being protected by a Saber. Enemy, enraged woman. One dead guy on the ground. His tiny, child Master should really be a farther away from here.  
  
“I'm a Rider class!”  
  
“Good, get our master away from here! I'll catch up.”  
  
Saber burst forward to meet the volley of mana feathers, as Rider made a dash for their master. Both were fast enough to leave wind tails in their wake, Saber having used 「Prana Burst」 and Rider being naturally quick footed. Windtails trailed in their wake and Saver crashes into a mana barrier, forceing it bacl with sheer strength. Ayaka let out a squeak as Rider picked her up mid run and continued towards to door without a break in speed. They burst through the door and went further down the lone road away from the house before Rider paused.  
  
“I suppose I'll use my hippogriff… ah, I hope you don't have motion sickness master! Come, 「 **Otherworldly Phantom Horse** 」!”  
  
A bright burst of mana forced Ayaka to close her tearing eyes. When she opened them, Rider's steed was waiting. The flank of a horse, the wings and head of an eagle- what stood before Ayaka was the mythical creature who's feather her father had on a bracelet. He had told that the hippogriff his feather was from belonged to-  
  
“You're Astolfo, the twelfth paladin of Charlemagne!”  
  
Rider smiled down at her.  
  
“Yep! So Saber asked us to get out of here but is there anywhere you want to go to?”  
  
Ayaka thought carefully about her destination. Safe? Maybe not. But necessary? Much so.  
  
“Can you go to Kyoto? There's a… relative there.”  
  
“Your wish is my command Master!”  
  
 ** _\---_**  
  
Tokyo's illuminative brilliance faded as they neared Kyoto. While the capital's elder sister was no electric powerhouse, it was no cobble of aged houses. It had the same, neat presence of every other Japanese city, but with regal landmarks of age pitted in.  
  
“Um, the house is a bit to the left of that tall building with the big board on it. I don't know the directions well so it okay if I just point it out when I see it?”  
  
“That's fine for me Master.”  
  
The Hippogriff made a lazy turn above the skyscraper, nowhere near straining itself with the wight of two people. Rider steered it below the clouds so that Ayaka could spot the house, but never out of the shadows. Even this personification of reckless curiosity knew that being seen would be bad.  
  
“Master. Are you heading somewhere safe?”  
  
The air beside Ayaka's head shimmered in time to the voice, indicating Saber's return.  
  
“Its the safest place I know, and I don't think Manaka would go here. We're going to mother's home. She's a mage so she should be able to protect us and there's bunch of my stuff there I need since I can't go home now…”  
  
Saber did not reply instantly, and Ayaka began to assume that her idea was a bad one.  
  
“That's alright I guess. You need a home right now, not just a place to stay.”  
  
“Thanks, Saber.”  
  
  
 

* * *

  
  
**{Caren Ortensia-Kotomine - Thrones}**

  
  
Archer refused to fly in the plane.  
  
“You expect me to sit a metal container for several hours?”  
  
His issue seemed to mainly be the fact it was enclosed, which made Caren wonder if he actually had flown in something before. His lack of surprise at the concept of flight suggested so.  
  
She asked Lancer this later, seated in between him and uncle Tokisada.  
  
“He has something called the Vimana in his treasury. It flies, but better than this.”  
  
Archer had an indian relic in his Gate? Well, he had boasted ownership of ‘everything’… Caren turned left. Tokisada was trying to find the church in a map of Fuyuki.  
  
“Eh, the area expanded…”  
  
He was coming as the overseer from the church, a position once held by Caren's grandfather Risei. He was recommended along with her father Kirei, but was apparently more qualified. How so, he did not say.  
  
“Ooh, Japan is quite bright.”  
  
Caren turned left, where Lancer was gazing out at skyline. Night had been illuminated by an armada of light, a first for Lancer. Lancer had told her that she was free to use whatever pronoun she wished, being androgynous, so Caren called Lancer ‘her’ to balance out her servants. Archer seemed not to mind despite referring to Lancer as a ‘him’.  
  
“I suppose it is, compared to where you once lived.”  
  
“Oh, Uruk was fairly bright at night. The moonlight was catching on all the gold and bronze we had.”  
  
Caren had Uruk's king as her Archer, and if the golden plated armour said anything about his character it was that he loved gold. Of course his kingdom would be adorned by it. Caren leaned to her left to observe the view. Fuyuki City was divided into new Fuyuki and the older Miyama. The sea on one side and mountains cupping the remaining borders- it was quite literally a perfect stage for a mage's battle.  
  
“We can use the church as a base right?”  
  
Tokisada winked at her.  
  
“What the Church doesn't know won't hurt them. Also, no master would suspect you to be there.”  
  
 _Advantageous._  
  
So Archer was listening. Caren checked to see if anyone had gotten startled by a disembodied voice before remembering that this connection was mental.  
  
 _Gil, do you want to go ahead to scout?_  
  
His answer came in a trail of gold outside the window, sinking down. Archer would have refused if it was anyone but Lancer. (Oh how lucky she was to have Lancer.) Caren had just achieved conversational connection with him and Tokisada was still getting the ‘mongrel treatment’. Archer had seemed terribly amused by Kotomine Kirei though. He ‘allowed’ priest to refer to him by name, and would once in a while gift the stony man wine. This apparent amusement disturbed the family. Which might have part of why Tokisada was here. When he was named overseer, he had quite blatantly stated to Lancer,  
  
“Look, no offence, but I'd like my little brother to a little farther from your good friend there.”  
  
Said ‘good friend’ laughed at this.  
  
“How defensive! I've yet to even touch you brother.”  
  
“The ‘yet’ in that sentence implies plans to touch him.”  
  
“Perhaps.”  
  
What ever fight that might have proceeded was halted by Lancer's timely intervention.  
  
Caren passed this off as Arcger having a planet sized ego. They left Italy that day, taking a plane to Tokyo before switching to plane for Fuyuki. It was late now, but Caren had slept on the international flight.  
  
Caren peered over Lancer, looking at Fuyuki's lit skyline. In five years, the Alternate Grail War would be held here. She would win or course. After all, she had summoned these two hadn't she?  
  
\---  
  
Caren felt a little stupid, reading the incantation from a paper. It was long and she couldn't remember that fast. Her father and grandfather weren't here to watch at least. They had to stave off the church. Her uncle Tokisada was here instead, and he was the one who said it was fine to write out the incantation on paper.  
  
 _“Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill._  
 _Repeat five times, then break._  
 _Let silver and steel be the essence._  
 _Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation._  
 _Let the barrier against the falling wind rise._  
 _Let the four cardinal gates close._  
 _Let the kingdom's three branch road spin._  
 _Let it be declared that your form be under me and my fate under your blade._  
 _Let yourself hear the call of the grail._  
 _Let me hear your answer to this call.”_  
  
The circle had started sparking, and Caren paused her chant to turn to her uncle. He smiled in reassurance, then nodded.  
  
“ _Let me swear this oath-_  
 _I shall be all that is good in this world,_  
 _And all the evil in this world I shall eradicate._  
 _You who arrives from the seven heavens, served by three words of power, come forth from the ring that restrains, keeper of the balance!”_  
  
Caren had been warned that the ensuing explosion would happen. But she had forgotten, and if were not for a quick yank on her habit by Tokisada she would have suffered a a number of small burns. The smoke parted around them, unnaturally glimmering. From the where Caren roughly remembered the circle was, a voice sounded.  
  
“How interesting Master. What catalyst did you use that brings us together once more?”  
  
Caren froze when a second voice joined the first.  
  
“What a dismal place to reunite us.”  
  
“Be kind, o rampant king of mine.”  
  
The smoke thinned and Caren saw the mismatched duo. One was clad in a full, golden armour. He wore an expression between a scowl and amusement. The second was so plainly dressed Caren thought she had mistakenly summoned something else. She had never heard of a hero in a simple attire.  
  
“Calm down Caren. This grail is an odd one. It was highly likely that each master would have more than one servant.”  
  
Tokisada whispered reassurances into her ear before backing away. He had no place here and Caren had to establish her bond. Caren watched her uncle leave before addressing her servants.  
  
“The catalyst I used- it was a horn from a heavenly bull. It was supposed to summon either the King of Heroes or his companion. You two would be them?”  
  
Caren engaged in a momentary staring contest between the golden armoured hero. He seemed to he searching for something in her. Her resolve? Her worth? The plain servant broke the silence by striding forward.  
  
“Hmm, that's right little Master. My name is Enkidu, companion to the King of Uruk. I am a lancer class servant.”  
  
The other eyed him before following suite, but he spoke as if he was merely addressing the room.  
  
“I am the King of Uruk, Gilgamesh. You've summoned me as an Archer, little girl.”  
  
The last word left his mouth and Lancer sped to Archer's side. Caren wondered what he was doing, and started when he punched the king on the shoulder.  
  
“My king, adjust that spiteful tone of yours.”  
  
Archer responded by trying to swipe a gauntlet at him.  
  
“I care for you much but I will not hesitate to ground some manners into you. Would it kill you to be kind?”  
  
Archer looked Lancer in the eye.  
  
“No, but it would be excruciating.”  
  
Lancer tried to kick him this time. To Caren's surprise, Archer was forced to shift his balance. Was her plain looking Lancer quite strong?”  
  
“Fine. Girl, what is your name?”  
  
Finally, the Archer had directly spoken to her.  
  
“My name is Caren Ortensia.”  
  
 _ **\---**_  
  
Kotomine Tokisada was a not a good priest. He was admittedly lax and a bit too free for the confines of priesthood. He lacked two fundamental things to being a priest.  
  
Firstly, devout belief in god. He believed in a higher entity, but he called it fate and often berated his mental idol for it's sick sense of humour.  
  
Secondly, _Kotomine Tokisada was not exactly human_.  
  


* * *

  
  
**{Jeane d'Arc - Ruler}**

  
  
There is a system in the grail, which ever it may be, to implement a form of 「 **Ruler** 」that may oversee the war. Unlike the Church overseer, Ruler's domain is over the servants. Ruler is meant to determine and intervene if the grail finds itself in danger of falling into the wrong hands. A Ruler class servant has two command spells per servants, and an ability that allows their words to carry power over any who listens. As part of their duty as Ruler, they may identify a servant's true name by sight. A Ruler class servant must be heroic spirit with no wish for the grail, above all else.  
  
The ruler class servant for this war was the Maiden of Orleans, a martyred saint. She was meant to be summoned at the location of the grail but it seemed to have found it more humorous to dump her in a different continent.  
  
Jeanne d'Arc had been summoned in France.  
  
It had been troublesome, but after five years she had been able to enter Japan. By the time she entered Fuyuki the other Masters had set up base. She needed to set up base too, but made an odd choice. She chose a temple as a sanctuary, not a church.  
  
She had made use of her ability to 「 **Convince** 」for lodgings, as she had for five years, but it seemed to be faltering upon usage on the son of the temple's head monk.  
  
“Are you sure you want to stay here, and not a church?”  
  
Ryuudo Issei's questionable expression was nearing suspicion. The foreign woman had a cross- she was most likely a christian. Why was she at a temple?  
  
“A-ah, I'm here for cultural experience…”  
  
“Cultural experience?”  
  
“Y-yes…”  
  
Ruler, a hero known throughout the world, would continue to be assaulted by a barrage of questions until the sun ended it's descent.


	3. Page 1, [People die when they're killed… unless you're Emiya Shirou]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rin runs into her natrual enemy, Sakura shows her status in the Matou manor, Shinji does one un-dicklike thing but spends the rest of his time as scum of the earth, Shirou nearly doesn't die and Illya makes freinds out of enemies. Also, Ruler does not where too look, because everything is happening everywhere. (PART 1) because I'm off for Adilfitri celebrations, part 2 next week if my Raya outfit doesn't kill me

Emiya Shirou died that night.

It was a bit of an eye opener for him, and he gained somewhat a new perspective on life. He gave much thought to mortality, which he promptly discarded once it was found to be conflicting with his root ideals. Though he had to admit those ideals were slightly revised.

Granted, he came back to life and proceeded to summon a deity of evil. If dying didn't take a whack at his mental mindset, the presence of satan did.

* * *

 

_** (Prior to the unfortunate circumstances of Emiya Shirou) ** _

 

Matou Shinji was a bit of a fool. He was not a total idiot, but he was by no means the brightest crayon in the box. He understood the circumstances of his house quite clearly, but heeding the rules was a concept that became entangled in his seaweed-like hair.

Grandfather was dangerous and not to be trifled with, the basic rule he had grown up with. This he accepted, though he did not fully understand. He did understand however, what would happen if you were to cross grandfather. Uncle Kariya was ‘missing’ for a reason.

Tohsaka-Matou Sakura was at least equally dangerous and equally not to be trifled with, was a recent rule he was attempting not to accept. He could sadly see why his senses warned him away from the enigma that was his possibly lunatic adoptive sister.

“Oi Sakura. Make me a bento or something.”

One sentence of painful, ear-grating snobbiness. Shinji had yet to attempt the act of behaving like a mature, decent human being. It was feared by all who knew him that he would never learn. This was something Sakura would've liked to fix with an ample dosage of persistent care and concern. Her servants thought otherwise.

“You should be nicer.”

Shinji fled the house within minutes of turning his head to discover the presence of a blindfolded face. Not that it was the blindfold that alarmed him, but the aura of a servant. In this case, the aura of someone who was a reputable monster.

Sakura could only sigh and repeat the words she had spoken many times before, and foreseeably many times later.

“Rider, stop bullying Shinji.”

(The less said about Saber's treatment of Shinji the better. She was not hailed by historians as a tyrant for nothing.)

By the door of the kitchen, an insect sounded out.

“And you, Sakura, shouldn't be so nice to someone who doesn't deserve it.”

Insects talked quite often in the Matou manor.

* * *

 

Tohsaka Rin slept in often.

With her parents away in London for the duration of a certain war, she was free to sleep in without fear of pranks (many a time she woke to find her the clocks out of whack, courtesy of her father). The problem of school was quickly solved by the presence of her ‘guardians’.

“Archer, take me to school again.”

Glaring at Rin from across a carved pine table, glory long lost behind the scribbles of overactive mages, was a miracle. The ghost of a dead hero, summoned and granted a body of magic by the omnipotent chalice of god- a Servant in a pink apron.

“Rin. I have cooked you breakfast, lunch and no doubt later you will make me do the same for dinner. If you want a taxi, ask the dog.”

The last word was delivered with the slam of a bento hitting the table, and the louder yell of before mentioned ‘dog’.

“Damn it Archer stop calling me that!”

Emerging from the annals of the Touhsaka living room was Rin's second servant, an Irish lancer who's fame did not earn him the respect he wanted.

“I'm sorry, the correct term is hound isn't it?”

Rin would have called them a cat and a dog, if likening her Archer to cat was not so odd to her.

“You have this argument every hour. I'm sure you can afford to argue after I've been sent to school so Lancer, a ride please?”

The sunlight had beaten the glass windows of Tohsaka's kitchen into white silvers, and had long since begun its entropy. The room, well kept and cleaned meticulously, had no pieces of furniture spared from the light. Rin's eyes would start tearing if she delayed the act of leaving this window abundant room.

“Come on Lancer, carry me to school with your boasted speed. You're speed surpasses Archer so you can get me to school on time can't you?”

A flat compliment, but a compliment nonetheless. The hound of Ulster would not shame his name by neglecting to repay such compliments at least partly.

“Okay, okay, dear bossy master of mine. You want me drop you off at the roof?”

If Rin were to take heed of the slight insult, she would not leave for school soon.

“Yes, that will be fine. I'll use a 「 **Concealment Spell** 」for the journey so hurry up!”

Archer sighed them out the doors, Rin in her uniform and Lancer in a blue shirt that clashed horribly with his vibrant hair. Well, it was either that or the Hawaiian shirt. Rin and Archer forced him into the lesser evil.

* * *

 

Emiya Shirou was nearly late. He was on time, but for him not to be early is a miracle. Ryuudo Issei was wholly surprised when he rounded the school on his bike to find Shirou doing the same.

“S-Shirou?”

The boy before him cocked his head in amusement.

“What's wrong Issei? Still half asleep?”

Indeed, it _was_ Shirou, for once not impossibly early.

“Slept in today?”

“Got held up a bit.”

 _By dreams_. The first was already a painful dream, then the second dream invaded the vestiges of his consciousness. Glowing spirals of red, forming into something that was not quite a sword- the sigil was familiar, but what magic was it? Before the silence could lapse into awkwardness, Shirou nocked a head to the girl behind Issei.

“Who's this?”

An unassuming, bespectacled girl shyly poked her head from behind Issei.

“Good morning.”

The girl sitting on Issei's backseat was not a familiar face, and Shirou knew many faces.

“A transfer student?”

She gave a nervous laugh as she smoothly alighted Issei's bike. Issei half expected her to slip and fall, with the nervous air she gave off.

(She nervous for reason Issei was not supposed to know about, lest he be killed in the name of secrecy.)

“Yes.”

A jubilant voice called from the gate.

“Senior!”

There were several people who called Shirou that, but only one who said it so joyfully. At the gates, Tohsaka-Matou Sakura was cheerily making her way over. Behind her, her courier was speeding away on a granny bike, dust and loose gravel flying out behind her. Sakura paused and leaned over to help a poor student that had gotten knocked down by the wind her ride generated.

“I-is that a high powered motorcycle?”

Issei laughed a bit, uneasy.

“No that was a bike. Tohsaka-Matou's guardian is a serious bike racer apparently so she she trains by riding Sakura to school.”

“I-I see…”

Shirou patted her on the shoulder.

“Don't worry about it.”

Sakura jogged up the last few meters between them.

“Senior, did you just arrive?”

Then she stepped back, face aghast.

“Senior, are you actually capable of sleeping in?!”

“Haha, very funny. I am human you know.”

It would have been ironical if Shirou knew his schoolmates had once theorised him to be an alien. Going to school one hour early, devoting all his spare time to fixing the school equipment at no cost and a home economics god- surely this boy was not human! Those who were kind called him a saint, though several people were reasonably jealous once they got a look at his ‘gene pool’ at the cultural festival. ( _Such cute sisters!_ They all thought.) Those who were haughty called him a janitor. But the truth was Emiya Shirou was one hundred percent human, albeit also slip-shot mage.

“New friend?”

Sakura stepped over to the girl. They had almost forgot she was there.

“Um, yes. I'm Sajyou Ayaka. Nice to meet you.”

She bowed politely.

“Nice to meet you. I'm Tousaka-Matou Sakura. I'm in the first year.”

Shirou joined in.

“Ah, that's right. I haven't introduced myself. Emiya Shirou, second year.”

The bell of Homurahara academy was low, and in the distance the higher chime of Homurahara elementary matched the quick rings of the elder school.

“We gotta go now. Do you need someone to show to class Sajyou?”

“No thank you. I'm supposed to meet the principal to finalise some transfer things.”

Then they stepped into the inner boundary of school and everything went wrong.

* * *

 

At the exact moment, above them and unseen, jewel magus Tohsaka Rin sensed it.

“Lancer, this type of bounded field-”

“-its malevolent, I know. Should I take you out of here?”

“No. I need to investigate. Set me down at the roof.”

Tohsaka's Lancer class servant was someone who qualified for the Caster class. He practiced some magic in life and though he was by no means an actual magus, the magic the witch of Dun Scaith had taught him was no laughing matter. He saw the first circle within seconds.

“In the shadows there.”

He pointed out the small, glowing circle.

“I'll inspect it-”

“Why don't I do that?”

She looked up at him, questioning.

“You're going to be late. Look.”

Four stories under, students were rushing into the building and under her feet she felt the tremor of other students running to class.

“Okay. I trust your judgment Lancer. Disable it once you determine what it is. It's definitely malevolent.”

She parted with a nod, dashing to the stairs as a burst of light settled over Lancer, equipping him with his servant garb.

There is something that needs to be said about this. This action of switching ‘gear’ requires the same amount of mana as an average spell, and thus is not very noticeable. Unless of course, you were in an area where there were very few mages.

Sajyou Ayaka noticed this burst and sent out an order in alarm.

_“Saber, can you materialise somewhere near the school?”_

_You want me to draw the attention of the servant?_

_“Yes. Just scout if you can, it's still day. He shouldn't be out to do anything either.”_

_I'll try my best, and should we come to blows I will force him away from the school._

Ayaka softly whispered out the window as she felt Saber's presence draw away.

“Good luck.”

* * *

 

First, something must be said about the Seraphim classed master of the grail war.

Through the most unusual of circumstances, the singularity is both ‘she’ and ‘he’. Together, they are they, for he and she cannot occupy this reality at the same time.

Secondly, because of their unusual circumstance, their existence borders intangibility. They had wandered the school earlier without notice from anyone. Not even the few mages. It could be said their presence was as weak as Assassin.

Thirdly, they were not in control of their actions.

Also, they are human. Albeit odd humans, but human nonetheless.

From this, we draw our conclusion, the last thing I may say about the nature of Seraphim. They posses a number of unusual servants.

* * *

 

The dictation of magic include mentions of numbers. The preferred number, 5. If you must go to a minimum, it may be 3. For a little stretch please use 7. For maximum, 12 is recommended. For the invocation of bad luck a western mage may use 13, while an eastern mage may prefer 4. (For those who choose to summon demons, 666 is the best option _but you are not to summon demons under any circumstances.)_

This malevolent 「 **Bounded Field** 」had 12 points. A little overkill for an area where 5 points would be more enough, but this unwillingly set up field was ordered to perfection. Over the course of a school, several were found and disabled.

The Lancer class servant disabled one point before he went to answer a challenge.

Tohsaka Rin disabled one herself, found when she entered the library in her break.

Emiya Shirou happened by a point when he was fixing the air-conditioning of the student council room. It took him fifteen minutes to accomplish the simple magic act, but he disabled it nonetheless.

On the way to class from the principal's office, Sajyou Ayaka disabled a point she found under a poster. It advertised, much to her amusement, the Friday night event at the school occult club.

Tohsaka-Matou Sakura disabled one in home economics class. She found the offending circle under the table.

Unexpectedly, Matou Shinji found a point. He was loathe to admit, but a bounded field like this would kill him if left to activate. He disabled that point.

In seven hours, half the points had been disabled and the person who was forced to set them up sighed in relief.

* * *

 

“Sakura.”

The setting sun washed on Homurahara's walls like painted flames. The light dimmed slowly, dancing in swaying motions as it's source began to sink out of sight. Tousaka Rin approached her sister at the lockers, while students trailed around them and out of the doors.

“Take this.”

Rin spilled a fat ruby pendant into Sakura, followed by a length of silver chain.

“It's got a lot of mana stored in it. For emergencies okay?”

Sakura nodded. She would further investigate the bounded field, while Rin would inform the church about this act. If it was a master, the overseer would have to intervene because involving normal humans was a violation of the rules.

“Good luck Sakura.”

“You too Rin. Don't run into random masters and lose.”

Rin gave a cheeky smile.

“Like I would lose.”

Sakura laughed, and this was the sound Rin kept in her head as the school grew smaller behind her.

“Archer, keep a lookout.”

_Got it._

She sense the servant keeping pace about one kilometre away, using buildings and other high places as footholds.

“Lancer report. You said you weren't able to fully investigate the school.”

_Ah, I ran into a servant._

“What?”

_We didn't fight, just conversed for bit. She gave me a good lashing over about using magic so I don't think her master set up that field._

Rin mulled the information over. A female servant, what sounded like a solid moral compass- not enough to narrow it down. Since she mentioned the bounded field her master must be a student or school staff member.

“So she yelled at you for the bounded field? That's it?”

 _Well she punched me before that_.

“What? Lancer- give the whole story, from the beginning please.”

* * *

 

From the direction of the older school building, where no student would be found during class, came a small mana flare. The message was clear.

Lancer was being called out.

He waited till the light emitted by the point shattered under his fingers before responding. He kicked off lightly from the roof, leaving a small spiderweb of cracks in the ground. He landed across his opponent. Separated by half the length of an old track field, Lancer's eyes met the shadows of a helm.

His opponent was heavily armoured, and the metal that wrapped his or her frame bore the tell tale signs of medieval craftsmanship. The typical english knight. Her blade, silver in the glow if the morning sun, was half the knight's height and if its appearance was anything to go by, heavy. Lancer judged that a good punch from someone who swung that around would wind him for a good half minute.

“Gah. An irishman.”

“Well with that reaction, I take it you're English?”

The servant seemed annoyed by him. He, for Lancer heard a deep voice distorted by the enchanted helmet, planted his sword firmly in the ground and crossed his arms.

“Your aura suggests a demigod.”

Lancer retorted sharply. If he thought of an Irish demigod his true name would be the first to come to mind.

“You're aura suggests a dragon. A dragon-child, am I correct? There are fewer of those.”

“Not few enough. And I do believe I know your name, hound of ulster.”

_That was fucking fast. Did the helm-_

“My helm has a bit of magic in it you see.”

 _Well shit_. Lancer had to play this card now.

“Well, a magic helm? A knight who uses magic is more often than not a knight with no honour.”

It worked, the servant got angry at this. Well, pissed was more like it. He slammed a fist down on the hilt of his blade, sinking it further into the ground.

“Fine. I shall let you see my face.”

The flash from his gauntlet stung Lancer for a second as he lifted his hand. The helmet fell away with surprising ease for a manual removal. Then Lancer got a good look at his opponent and opened his mouth without thinking.

“Well, quite a pretty girl-knight you are.”

Lancer was a flirtatious man who slathered compliments on the people he liked, as if they were bread in desperate need of butter. His compliment was simple, but while the knight might have taken ‘pretty’ with a scowl, he would not take ‘girl’ lightly. In short, the revealed-to-be-female knight shortened the distance between them with an ability Lancer had not expected, and sunk her fist into his nose.

“ _ **Do not call me girl.”**_

If words had shape, hers would have turned into wolves at their hackles.

“Would you prefer to be called a woman?”

Lancer had drawn out his spear at the attack and stepped back, trailing a rune over his shattered nose. This caused another burst of anger from the knight.

“A mage! You must be some caster classed servant- did you set up that 「 **bounded field** 」 over the school? Bad enough your class uses petty tricks- you resort to something as foul as this?”

She seemed ready to break another bone and Lancer slammed his spear into the ground between them. Taking a stance, the girl- most likely a saber Lancer thought- summoned her sword to her hands.

“You've got some misconceptions there. I'm a Lancer, not a Caster. And that's not my field. In fact my master asked me to disarm it.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“And how do I determine the validity of your words?”

“A duel perhaps? To prove that I'm a Lancer and convince you that I am not someone who would use malevolent magic.”

She lowered her sword slightly. Lancer took this as a positive sign.

“On my honour as a knight and a prince, I accept your proposal and shall use our battle to judge your character. But not now. The sun hangs itself too high in the sky. Shall we wait till the moon takes it's place?”

“Sure.”

* * *

 

“So you agreed to a fight?”

_Er, yeah._

Rin heard Archer snicker. She sighed herself, but Lancer had been very upfront about his wishes in this war. He wanted a good fight, period.

“Well, who am I to deny the wishes of my faithful servants.”

_So I can fight the knight later?_

“Go ahead. I'll watch from a distance.”

Murderous intent in the morning, church trips in the evening and a battle later that night. Rin could hear her bed beckoning.


	4. Page 2, [The unfortunate circumstances of Emiya Shirou]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> where shirou dies, people meet and we find the parents.

There was no official rules that prevented Masters to seek aid from other mages. Thus, there was no valid reason for Tohsaka Tokiomi and Irisveil von Einzbern (and spouses) to be asked (ordered) by the Mages association to stay in London for an unknown period of time (the duration of the war). _Please do not bring your Master-Children_ was ‘written’ at the bottom of the letter in invisible ink. Above that, under the actual content of the letter, was more invisible words. _Or else._

Tohsaka Tokiomi had to relent, because the Tohsaka were not the most highly thought of family around. It was very important that he not bring down what ever hellfire the anger of the Mages Association would surely take form as. (Because his father did _such a great job_ with that.)

Irisveil von Einzbern was not respected and barely acknowledged as the Einzbern head. Most mages still hissed out the word the Homunculus like the word was poison. If they were petty and wanted something derogatory, the word doll (or any of its many synonyms) were used. Few regarded her as a person. Some mages complimented her long, healthy life (godly magic was a very _curious_ thing) and the fact her womb procured one of the Grail's chosen ones (“ _The Cherubim too!_ ” They exclaimed). Then she married two people quite disliked by the community and her reputation went into the negatives.

Both Tokiomi and Irisveil could not afford to turn cheek at the Association's summons.

Tokiomi and his wife, Aoi, were amiably received. The new Archibald head (who took over after his predecessor went, ahem, _mental_ ) shook hands with them, then had a discussion. The invited Church family spoke to them too. It also helped that a very well respected Enforcer had stuck to their side. (Of course, it all went to hell when they neared the Edelfelts.)

Irisveil brought one of two spouses and one of three children. (She chose one spouse who's gender was accepted by the association and the other was to guard her other children.) Surprisingly, her preparation for an onslaught of verbal and silent abuse was for naught. Not a single mage dared to make any obvious jab at the Einzbern head while Emiya Kiritsugu, the Mage Killer himself, stood ten centimetres beside her.

* * *

 

The night's ‘event’ wasn't sudden.

Ruler felt the first servant move early in the morning, a Caster class. The movement roused her from her sleep. She quietly rose and left the temple.

Later as she circled the area where Caster had moved, she felt a Rider class arrive in material form, barely touching the boundary of the location before quickly speeding away. Then a Lancer class arrived. He went into the building, not in battle gear but quickly changed. He was followed quickly, most likely in response, by a Saber.

There were servants in spirit form, but the nature of that form allowed them a measure of concealment. Furthermore, the school had quite a number of masters. Ruler had guessed two to be the Tohsaka sisters, being part of a great mage family. The Matou, maybe. The boy did not seem strong enough. There were more than three however, and she could barely tell which were mages let alone masters.

In the evening, the Rider from earlier came again as students trailed out. Ruler watched outside the school, for that was the building Caster had snooped around. Ruler saw her full material form before she dissolved into spirit form.

Having seen her, Ruler also saw her identity.

_That's wrong. Why is this person a hero?_

She had to ignore it for now though. She sensed two servant pairs, both a set of Archer and Lancer, about to come across each other. She had to meet that. (One of them is like the Rider- wrong, an anti-hero and one other is closer to a noble phantasm than a servant. There were so many irregularities here her summoning was beyond warranted.)

Later, as she watches the summoning of the the another unusual servant, she regrets not staying to observe the school.

* * *

 

Matou-Tohsaka Sakura was not weak. She was meek, but should you present yourself as dangerous you would not find her bowing. Most likely, you wound find yourself on the ground with a broken nose or tased nerves. Should the opponent be a mage, 「 **Gandr** 」 was a well loved offensive spell of the Tohsaka mages for a good reason. Should the opponent be a servant, Sakura had a 「 **Mystic Code** 」 she had yet to test and two servants capable of punting someone to the moon.

Out of the twelve markers for a malevolent 「 **Bounded Field** 」surrounding Homurahara Academy, eleven were disabled. Five by various mages and a servant throughout the school day, and six by Sakura's hand. Now, as the last of the sun's half hearted attempt at light faded, Sakura approached the last marker at the baseball field.

Defending it was the first servant she would face in the Alternate Grail War, Seraphim's Saber.

* * *

 

Sajyou Ayaka had long since learned that it was nigh impossible to attach the term ‘common sense’ with her servants.

“You've got a fight on later?”

_Yep. Great Irish hero, bound to be a hell of a battle._

“You scored while I was sleeping!”

_Well now that's your fault isn't it?_

“Please stop arguing… I'm trying to shop for food.”

‘Shop’ was perhaps not an accurate word. Ayaka and her Rider stood in the aisles of a convenience store. A staff person had peered past the cashier at them, curious. The conversation included a third person he could not see, but he chalked it up to them being oddballs. Rider's attire did little to deny that assumption.

Rider, though affirming that he was male and once offering proof, had donned a jacket with floral designs over a laced shirt and pink skirt. ‘Female’!, screamed his apearence. Rider's hair was what drew the attention of most. Silky, cherry blossom pink locks cascaded down his back. When it was not held up by an array of hair ornaments, it would tickle the floor. ( _Cosplay_ , the staff thought.)

Saber was his polar opposite. In the first year she spent with Ayaka, Ms Sajyou had offered to cut her hair short. She kept it cropped since, though the feminine line of her face often gave away her gender. Though she would not hear of it, she was pretty in a youthful way. Saber often donned shorts- jeans were her favourite- and loose shirts. Sometimes she carried a jacket.

Ayaka dressed in between them. Plainly and demurely, she choose the option of ‘not standing out’. It worked well for her so far, but it didn't guarantee her invisibility. A mage would see her in seconds. She was not a fully trained mage and the 「Connection」she had with her servants was glaring.

It was thus that one snack-seeking Illyasveil von Einzbern found her holding the last bag of _Super Special Chips._

“You! Those are my favourite chips!”

“T-these generic tortilla chips are your favourite?”

* * *

 

Emiya Shirou knew to most people Matou Shinji was regarded as anoying at best. By a hateful handful, he was named ‘scum of hell’. But Shirou held firm to belief that every person was capable of good and given the chance, would act as a good person.

So when Shinji begged him to clean up the archery dojo for him, claiming fealty to an earlier arrangement, he did not refuse. He accepted, told him he should learn to manage his time better and bid him goodbye.

So this was how, when evening had past and the moon had firmly planted it's behind on a plain of stars, he found himself with tired arms, a clean dojo and the sounds of battle in the distance.

* * *

 

Caren Ortensia-Kotomine wondered if the skirt would still be there later.

Tokisada had forced the lower half of the Exorcist uniform on her before she left ( _Caren Claudia Ortensia-Kotomine, you put that skirt on right now or you not leaving the church!_ ) and she found the minuscule restriction it caused to her movement unbearable. Simply put, she wasn't used to it. So she took it off and was currently examining it's hiding place on a high tree branch.

“If I leave it there, would it get stolen?”

_Considering how despicable the mongrels of this century are, it is highly possible._

_I think that you would need to worry about ants and bacteria of the sort. You are frail._

Statments regarding her health were trite. Her inherited ‘susceptibility to sickness’ was apparent in the bandages that made up half her daily outfit. Caren looked around the road for a better hiding place. She could go down the hill perhaps.

“Should I hide it behind those bags of trash?”

_Master, I fear for your common sense._

“That would be worse wouldn't it?”

But she couldn't carry around the skirt… her 「 **Shroud of Magdalene** 」could be folded into a bag but the clergymen who have her the tool would despair at it's use. Plus, carrying a bag was more troublesome than wearing a skirt.

 _Ugh. Girl, you better be grateful_.

The dark cloth dangling on the tree branch lifted, pulled by unseen wind, and disappeared into a golden ripple.

“I'm very grateful Archer.”

Her night walk continued for five minutes before Lancer's voice halted it.

_Caren, on the road above._

She looked up. The road to the church was not well frequented, since the Church was far back into the old town. The road Caren was on rose and and fell as it snaked the side of a hill. On the rise before her, someone had frozen.

Tokisada had cheated a bit. He got the names of some masters from his contacts and gave them to her for whatever slight edge it offered. Caren knew the identity of four masters, and the rank of one. Even so, Caren did not need Tokisada's documents to recognise the heir to the family that managed Fuyuki's leylines. She also knew that, just as her eyes drew itself to the circles on her opponent's arm, Tohsaka Rin's eyes zeroed in to the crude slash of red on her hand.

“Archer, you told me you were getting bored.”

Faced with the first battle of the grail war, Caren smiled.

“I believe that's entertainment standing aways from us.”

On the other side, similar words were exchanged.

“Archer, you wanted some exercise?”

Faced with her first real battle, Tohsaka Rin grinned.

“I believe that's a sparring partner over there.”

* * *

 

“Which land do you hail from, enemy Saber?”

Sakura's Saber enjoyed good banter before battle like any self respecting warrior. With her praetor safely away and protected by Rider, she could afford the banter. However…

“Tis an odd question to pose. Doth thou not know to banter right?”

He scowled at her, then calmed fast. Someone with a temper but also control. Hmm.

“You have the visage of someone I served in life.”

Ah. She saw the reason for the question.

“Thine lord, you search for her? Tis not I, sadly. I have never seen thee before this night. Though a knight like yourself would be much welcome to serve my great self.”

He scoffed at this, then raised his blade.

“I serve only my king.”

“Good.”

Saber raised her sword in return.

“Loyalty is commendable. I shall face thee with pride and full force behind my blade.”

At a distance, on the roof of another school, Seraphim's Archer watvhed with sharp eyes. The red dressed Saber was a hell of a heavy hitter if she could force their knight Saber back like that. Archer saw the ground tremble and shatter under their feet, and the battle was still young.

He hoped that they would finish this quick. They who controlled his master were not kind. Archer had orders to shoot the enemy master if Saber's bout did not end in fifteen minutes. Then Caster and Lancer would move in and all pretence of fairness would be lost.

Shit hit the fan much faster though. Berserker reported something thirteen minutes into the fight.

_Oh fellows~?_

_Yes she-devil?_

_Damn you, Archer. Just letting you know that I found a witness and am about to dispose of him in- oh wait there goes my spear._

The connection was filled by angry shouting, from master and servants.

_What's wrong? These are the rules no?_

The connection went silent. The rule of secrecy was one they had agreed to obey, but they did not forsee the impact it would have on their mentality as ‘heroes’.

_Honestly, such a waste for me to be killing a boy. I'll just leave this here and keep patrolling._

* * *

 

Emiya Shirou, contrary to bountiful evidence, was not an idiot. He was old-fashioned in thinking to the point where his common sense had actually been damaged, but he was no nincompoop.

He did not brazenly stride to the baseball field. He went to the first floor and observed through the windows. There were two people moving about- no, fighting. Yes, it was blades he saw clashing and splitting air. His eyes traces the larger, a dark metal that curved wildly. The other was plain in comparison, but Shirou knew to respect the well made white blade. He stood there transfixed as his eyes went from the weapons to the owners.

Two blurs of red and silver, unnatural in every aspect. Their vibrance was too much for this world where only humans resided and the very air refused them, bending around them.

Something moved to the left of Shirou's vision. He jerked and saw the girl.

It was girl, not a woman who stood there. She seemed like Illya, with a visage of youth and eyes too old for her face. But where Illya was brilliantly white, skin and hair outshining her purple attire, this girl was brilliantly red, from hair to dress.

“Hello~! I'm not really sorry but if you want to know boy, these are the rules okay?”

Shirou's eyes trailed the odd thing coming from her back- a tail?- down to the ground then up to chest. Into his chest, and right through his heart.

Berserker watched the boy blinked confusion as her tail retracted, reaching one hand up to the hole. She waited for his mind to catch up and his knees to give out before she sunk back into the shadows.

Behind her, Emiya Shirou's breathing began to slow.

* * *

 

When the enemy flinched, still untouched by the edge of Saber's blade, she paused.

“Has thine master ordered a halt to this duel?”

Most mages, from her earlier experience, were paranoid and cowardly. They avoided direct confrontation, over prepared and retreated at the first signs of danger. Sakura was no such person and promised her an uninterrupted duel. Saber doubted that her enemy's master was the same if he was being given orders now.

“There was a witness.”

Damn. Damn it all to Pluto. Saber had been inform of the secrecy rule. All battles must be done at least by the cover of night and all non-mage witnesses must be eliminated.

“Our battle has soured considerably. Perhaps another time, enemy Saber.”

He drew back, wincing at night.

“If fate lets us be.”

She nodded. Everything was a thread fate toyed around a finger. 

As the knight disappeared, the emperor searched for her praetor.

“Sakura?”

_I'll attend to the witness. Circle around the school for a bit then meet me at the gate okay?_

“As you wish.”

Above the school, the clouds churned.


	5. Page 3, [VIRTUES]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emiya Shirou escaped death again by calling forth… satan? Hisau Maiya makes her first entry and departs, small things happen everywhere and signs of things going wrong apear. Can you guess who Seraphim is?

Hisau Maiya had been asked to do something fairly simple.

Kiritsugu said,  
_“Watch Illya, snipe anyone who looks too dangerous but don't actually engage them no matter what.”_

Irisveil said,  
_“Run before you come face to face with a servant. Don't fight, just make sure Illya takes care of herself and Shirou doesn't get involved.”_

She was about to tragically fail on these tasks.

“Sorry, but as the overseer, I've got to enforce some rules.”

It appears that she had gone too near to the highly suspicious Kotomine church. The priest had noticed and gone out to ‘greet’ her.

“No interference is too be allowed to the war. So Miss Hisau Miaya, **_I'm going to have to ask you to go to sleep for a while._** ”

If Maiya had remained awake, she would have registered the white haired priest's words as an extremely powerful form of 「 **Hypnosis/Coercion Magic** 」. But Maiya had slumped forward, deep in slumber, before Kotomine Tokisada, who held a strange glint in his eyes.

* * *

 

Tohsaka Rin promised her Lancer his fight, and even as she faced an enemy on the other side of town she did not call him and break that promise.

Lancer faced Saber across a clearing in the forest. He was grinning, spear at the ready and waiting for time to ripen.

Sajyou Ayaka promised her Saber her fun, and did not call on her to break that promise when she met the little girl in search of snacks.

Saber faced Lancer across a small glade in the forest. She was bursting with energy, coiled and ready to pounce with teeth bared.

In between them was a bird. Perhaps it was unaware, perhaps it was frozen in place as two unseen forces came upon it on two sides. When it took off in a smattering of feathers and a strangled caw, the space it previously occupied became crushed as the two forces collided.

Lancer was fast, bestial in speed. In fact, ‘bestial’ was perhaps a trait of his that was most famed. To match this, Saber used 「 **Prana Burst** 」, a unique skill that channeled a portion of her immense mana into her feet and ‘bursting’, pushing her forth with unimaginable force.

When they collided, air exploded. To Lancer's surprise, he was pushed back.

_So this the power of a Saber class servant!_

Lancer forced her blade away, distrupting her balance then using the small opening to push forward. Then the Saber class servant, renowned for legendary skill in swordsmanship, let go her sword. The blade sunk in the air, and the attack Lancer had based around a now closed opening was halted by a fist to the face.

They parted, and Lancer spat.

“A swordsman who abandons his sword! What a sight!”

Saber reached her hand to the fallen blade.

“A sword is a tool for victory. If my fists may achieve the same goals then I will use them so.”

Lancer laughed. The sound rebounded through the trees, and they shivered as the demigod's joy passed through their branches. Then they trembled as the ground carried the quakes from the continued clash of sword and lance.

* * *

 

Emiya Shirou dreamt of tears. Warm and steady and splashing into his face. He thought it was rain at first, but he had never known the sky to make such an anguished sound.

_Why must it be you?_

Why indeed. After he dreamt of warmth, the sun perhaps, and fading pain. He felt like someone had gently stitched his heart back, caressed it and lain it back into his chest where it felt off. Off for reasons he could not discern, because it was in the correctly place, in the correct way, but not exactly as it was?

_Ah, I was injured before…_

Then Emiya Shirou woke up.

* * *

 

The afterlife, Emiya Shirou thought most decidedly, did not look like his school hallway. Therefore, he thought with equal decisiveness, he must actually be alive. Odd.

The confused high schooler patted down his chest.

 _Blood? Check._  
Hole in shirt? Check.  
Injury? Oddly missing.

Shirou was very sure that if he possessed magic healing abilities, he would have noticed. Also, he wouldn't have broken his arm in middle school. So where was the injury from a tail that had pierced his heart? The tail had went right through his-

Shirou froze.

A tail. He had been killed by someone with a tail. He'd gotten killed by a kid with a tail. What had she said?

“ _Hello~! I'm not really sorry but if you want to know boy, these are the rules okay?”_

Rules? Rules to what? What kind of rules led to murder? But was it murder, seeing as how he had woken up unscathed? There was something unnatural going on here!

But as Shirou sat there, recovering from death, his mind caught hold to one thing.

If those rules meant I had to die, and I'm not dead, she would most certainly come to kill me again!

Yes, he was probably going to get killed by the unusual person again. But what to do? How does he escape that non-human thing?

Only one thing to do when faced with power you couldn't comprehend.

_Run._

* * *

 

Around them, not even the trickles of wandering people remained. An old man eyed the group warily from the upper balcony of an apartment complex, but shuffled inside when Rider cheerily waved. The moon shone strongly, and the wind carried itself with a soft whisper.

Sajyou Ayaka and Illyasveil von Einzbern leaned on the railings outside of a convenience store. Illya seemed satisfied with the plain snack Ayaka had surrendered to her and furiously devoured the chips. Ayaka waited beside her despite having no need to because, well, where her parents? Caretaker? Older sibling of sort? A little girl shouldn't be wandering around at night you know! She probably should have left, instead of waiting and worried staring at her watch. Or, trying to make it look like she was staring at her watch and not the sharp lines on the back of her hand.

“What are you waiting for?”

Ayaka's continued presence at her side seemed to have stirred the girl from her snack. Rider had wandered off to stare at the display in a shop.

“I'm waiting for your parents to pick you up… unless, did you come out here alone? That's dangerous!”

Illya peered at Ayaka curiously, like she had said something odd.

“And what will you do if I'm alone?”

Truthfully, Illya was not alone. She had ordered Caster and Berserker to a suitable distance away so enemies would be unable to discern as a master at sight. But she wanted to see what this girl, who seemed so friendly with her servant though she could have treated him?/her? as a tool, was really like.

“Then I'll accompany you home! It's dangerous for little girls to be put at night so that's the right thing to do!”

Ah, this person reminded Illya of her brother. Perhaps then she would be a good ally.

“Since you're a nice person who surrendered these chips and is willing to help someone you just met, I want you to be a friend. You can be an ally too if you want.”

“An ally?”

This random foreign girl whom Ayaka had only known for half an hour faced her attention to Ayaka. Ayaka watched as she became reflected in crimson pools, the sole focus of Illya's gaze. The girl, still too shockingly white for Ayaka's eyes, turned red. From her face to her hands, the slashes of command seals hummed.

“I'm the Cherubim, Illyasveil von Einzbern, and I want you to be my ally for the Holy Grail War!”

Ayaka squeaked.

* * *

 

 

“Rider! How is it on your end?”

Tohsaka-Matou Sakura really didn't care who heard her yelling in the middle of the night. What was important was the tailed servant who killed her senior and was going off to finish the job.

“ _I lost her! Archer is blocking me_!”

Damn! This wasn't normal! The number of servants was too off! Sakura ducked into the next alleyway, a shortcut.

“Saber, what's happening on your end?”

“ _Lancer engaged me!_ ”

Sakura jumped over a fence.

“That's impossible! An alliance like this early in the war?”

Sakura considered activating using the 「 **Hollow Dress** 」. It would boost her, but the payoff… no, risking it here would kill her and she wouldn't be able to save Shirou this way.

_Please senior, hang on!_

* * *

 

From what Rin could see, the golden armoured servant was freaking powerful. His noble phantasms ( _what the hell, who has that many phantasms_?) was off the charts, his rank was exemplary and his tactics were painful to see, because her Archer was losing.

Rin strayed her eyes for a moment to see him deflect a blade, then forcibly retreat into cover when a hail of weapons came at him. She looked away and fired a blast of 「 **Gandr** 」into the direction of the enemy master. It caught on oneof the many trees she hid behind, lighting up the forest for five seconds before the magic died down. . She had no time to worry about Archer, if she wanted to help she would have to take care of the white haired girl.

At the very least, the enemy's Archer was severely impaired by his ego.

“Mongrel! You dare copy my treasures?!”

His ego was planetary. Rin would bet her house this guy was a sovereign when he was alive. If she didn't know any better she'd guess him to be Emperor Nero.

How compatible was this person with his master? That would determine how well coordinated their strategies were. His ego couldn't permit such a good relationship if his master had pride. But this other master… Rin vaguely recognised the uniform.

“I didn't know the Church liked to send participants for these sort of things!”

A 「 _Black Key_ 」, the standard armament of the Church's combat personnel, flung itself at her from the shadows in response. Rin saw a flash of white duck between trees, the following black of an Exorcist outfit and the red tails of a 「 _Holy Shroud_ 」. If that wasn't being used at this point, Rin wagered that she didn't fit the conditions of it's usage.

“Oh? I didn't volunteer. Your Grail chose me.”

“Why would the Grail choose a Church member, you people consider magic a heresy!”

Caren felt that this was stupid question. The Grail was omnipotent, but it was man-made wasn't it? A human had implanted protocols and created the system known as the Holy Grail.

“Why you don't you ask the people who made the Grail? Shouldn't you have that answer?”

The people who made the grail would be… the three founding families? Had her identity been found out?

“Hey, come out and fight me head on!”

“Such a hot tempered person…”

“Excuse me?!”

* * *

 

Ruler, who stood far above their battle, wondered which Archer would win.

One was the oldest hero in the world, and held in his possession the origins of all stories.

But the other… a 「 **Guardian** 」, one of 「 **Alaya, will of mankind** 」's pawns. What force had pulled him from Alaya's stores? It had fo have been a strong connection that chose him out of a thousand easier candidates in the 「 **Throne of Heroes** 」. As someone who was once empowered by Alaya's voice, Ruler wondered what his goals were. What was the wish he wanted, to have been called to this war?

Somewhere in town, something sparked.

It was that point Ruler chose to abandoned her observation of Rin's battle. _In town, something more dangerous was happening!_ A large number of servants suddenly began moving, all in one direction.

* * *

 

Shirou crashed at the front door.

_What the heck? My body feels heavy…_

His chest constricted again, as it had several times during his run home. Could it be that his body still remembered being stabbed? But he couldn't stop here, he had to get a weapon or something.

As Shirou staggered into the living room, he raised his hand. Midway through his run home, a burning had started on the back of his hand. He must have injured it somehow. Yes, there seemed to be a dark red bruise on his left hand… was it bleeding? The red was growing more prominent…

“Dear me, little boy. You seemed to have survived.”

The voice from behind was childish, distant and familiar. Not good.

“My mistake.”

It was by pure luck that Shirou survived the strike of her lance. He dove forward, towards the hallway, and the thrown lance missed him by a hair's breath.

“Well, you seem to be able to offer me some fun.”

Shirou became acutely aware that the person he faced was a murderer. What type of person would grin and look at someone with evil in their eyes and glee over the act of killing?

Shirou bolted for the sturdiest, possibly safest place in the whole house- the Atelier.

“I'll give you a five seconds head start! Hunting down pigs is too easy in this form, sheesh.”

‘Hunting down pigs’? What kind of immoral monster was trying to kill him? Well since he was given a chance, he should use it. He passed by a poster- something from school, he remebers- and grabbed it. Once it was rolled up, Shirou applied the only magic he knew how to use- 「 **Reinforcement** 」.

“Trace on!”

It wasn't good, but at least it would hold out for one hit. Shirou burst out into the yard and heard the girl's voice.

“Time's up! You're position is really easy to guess, boy!”

Shirou heard the wooden walls and paper partitions crush under the force of a focused advance. Thus great force would reach him soon, so he no had no choice but to-!

Shirou spun around and raised the makeshift weapon into the air, where it blocked the blow of the girl's lance. The girl had jumped for a small boost, and her body was midair behind the lance. The lance, Shirou could see, was a work of elegant craftsmanship. A helix design and the protruding secondary prong- it seemed more suited to be hanging on a wall than out in battle. But for whatever intent this lance was crafted, it was a weapon now and if Shirou wasn't careful, it would kill him.

The girl seemed to notice that her lance was not making progress, and frowned before pushing away.

“Not bad boy. But honestly, is that paper you're using to block me?”

She tilted her head and lifted her fingers to her chin. Her devious smile and cocked expression seemed to suggest that she was about to say something. But Shirou was wrong. She pointed her spear, tip forward, and charged.

_This is bad, the reinforcement will only last one more hit!_

Shirou threw the poster into the air, where it acted as a shield against the sudden strike.

“Huh?”

It seemed his slip-shot magic was really no match for an inhuman opponent. While Shirou had been saved from the actual strike, the force went past the ‘shield’ and knocked him back to the storehouse doors. They gave under his weight and Shirou rolled into the wall on the other side. Through his blurry vision Shirou saw the girl moving towards him, already shaking off his distraction. Crap. He groped around the wall for something he could throw. His fingers closed around the book and (with a silent sorry for the owner) threw it towards the figure who had already reached the doorway.

There is something that must be said about the layout of the Emiya household's storehouse/Atelier. It was fairly spacious, and on the ground there was one magic circle Irisveil von Einzbern had carved into the ground. This circle that she had carved was a bit close to the door.

When Shirou's hands closed around the book he had grabbed, a forgotten tome Jubstacheit von Einzbern had given Emiya Kiriysugu as a parting gift, it was recognised as a catalyst. When he flung it, and the Berserker class servant girl cast it aside, it landed in Irisveil's circle.

One master. One catalyst. One circle, a focus point. The equation was filled and the grail selected it's ‘hero’. It was quick to pluck- or perhaps remove- this particular soul from where it rested.

A burst of light and mana pushed Berserker out of the store. Shirou sat blinded and unmoving.

“What?”

“Blasted boy! Not only were you a mage, you were some cocky little master!”

From the post Ruler had arrived at, that is, the roof of a neighbours house, she saw the summoning of Emiya Shirou's servant. A blast of light, the surge of power from the Grail and the condensing of mana- all she needed to see.

“This is, an eighth class? That's not possible!”

In town, several battles halted as masters felt a portion of the energy the Grail had supplied for the maintenance of their servants disappear.

Sitting on the pews of a church, Kotomine Tokisada opened his resting eyes, sensing the disturbance.

“This aura is suspiciously like that guy's…”

But Emiya Shirou knew none of this, and merely sat dumbstruck as the being stepped forward into the moonlight.

“Hey you. You're my master right?”

The servant of the special inverted berserker class, Avenger, frowned down on him.

“You look dazed. Are you sure you're my master?”

“What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time, a visit to the church is made, mages in london discuss the grail, ruler contemplates and maybe gets more action and day one draws to a close. 
> 
> AN: sorry if this chapter is a little late, the flu hit me midweek. There's a fifty percent chance that i'll update other fanfictions next friday so let us pray to the Muses!


	6. Page 4, [The first night is always the hardest night.]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grail infodump at London, Rin might just go to church, and Shirou gets three times more confused. also, Ruler starts deciding how to use her position in this war. clue for seraphim is with Issei! (There are exams for the next two weeks so chapter 9, page 5 will be late.)

 

The Clock Tower, housing a considerable number of magus nobility, had halls for gatherings and _special_ halls for _special_ gatherings. As Irisveil von Einzbern examined the over-the-top, elaborate decorations in the spacious banquet hall being used, she wagered that this was one of the Clock Tower's better halls.

“I wonder who donated the fortune to make this hall…”

“The Archibald's did.”

Irisveil turned. The person who addressed her was a young woman, maturity cutting lines into a youthful face, accompanied by a man with a grin. She held out a hand.

“Reines El-Melloi Archisorte, tenth head of the Archibald family. This hall was a bit of a donation after one of out family members… had a mishap.”

(There really was no other way to describe Kayneth Archibald than as a mishap.) 

“Irisveil von Einzbern. It is a honour to meet the head of such a prestigious family.”

And famed they were. The Archibalds were considered as elites among elites, and a family with close ties with legendary Barthomeloi family. The incident that was their ninth head was just a small bump to their reputation, quickly fixed.

“And it my pleasure to speak to the head of family of great alchemists. May I introduce my companion?”

She flashed a hand to the red-haired man, who stepped forward and took Irisveil's freed hand with a firm shake.

“Bram Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri. Good to meet you.”

He laughed a bit, then waved in the direction of a man scowling down a sheepish youth. Behind him was a doll- seams in her metal skin and blank orbs in her pretty face.

“Out third companion there is El-Melloi the Second. He prefers being called Waver though.”

Irisveil glanced at the companion- english, rather long hair and stern lines in his face- and looked the youth over. Student aged, student dressed- slacks, in a banquet?

“The youth is not you companion?”

“Just a student who snuck in.” Reines scowled this, while Bram snatched two glasses of wine from a passing by familiar.

“Past the barrier?”

Reines seemed used to this disbelief.

“Flat Escardos is a bit of a child genius.”

“But,”

Bran interjected, flourishing one of the wine glasses to Irisveil. She accepted it.

“Flat Escardos lacks reservation, common sense and any desire to commit.”

“Talent without aim then.”

“Exactly.”

They toasted their wine. Reines, having been cut out when Bram brought in wine, endeavoured to bring El-Melloi the Second over. He seemed to be done with the dressing down and dismissed the still-grinning boy. The boy however refused to dismiss himself. Reines joined in on the lecture. Irisveil watched them, mismatched as they were.

“My department has a bit of research on the Fuyuki Grail since we're usually acquiring the artefacts for mages who participate in the copy wars-”

Over the decades copies of the Holy Grail, or more accurately, the third magic Heaven's Feel popped up around the globe. While they lacked the completeness of Fuyuki's Grail, they were still extraordinarily powerful magic artefacts and before their alliance, mages were at a constant battle against the Church's Eight sector for these grails. Around 99% of the Grails the association seized were copies of the Fuyuki Grail made in the last two centuries. So most of them had the servant summoning system, and mages would buy artefacts through the Department of Evocation, and Bram had succeeded his father as it's head a short five years ago. It was likely he had a more detailed idea of the Grail war than most.

“-but the servant summoning in this Alternate War seems to wildly different. The number of servants, the mana required to maintain them. The choice of masters seems to be odd too. That Church family there-”

He pointed over to where a solemn faced old man was gravelly addressing someone Irisveil recognised to be Tohsaka Tokiomi, and a blank faced man speaking to someone- was that Kiritsugu?

“-they're here because the grail chose a eleven year old nun four years ago. Maddening, it is. But I'm interested in the servant summoning so if it doesn't trouble you much, mind giving me a run down?”

Irisveil set down the wine. Getting tipsy didn't take much for someone whose body wasn't designed for alcohol.

“The mana being used to maintain the servants is mostly being supplied by the Grail. About, eighty percent give or take. We're trying to empty the mana collected in the original Grail but the mana gathered has gone through some form of entropy. The grail is a unique container even it's creators didn't fully understand so we're still puzzling the reason for the multiplication of mana. But since the mana supply from the Grail was so abundant the number of servants a master can maintain increased. There's still the servant master connection though, which impacts the psyche of the master so due to mental limitations, two servants is the limit. Three is pushing it. Four would be impossible.”

Bram paused for a thoughtful sip of wine to wash down the facts. Irisveil took a sip of wine to wet her throat. She watched as El-Melloi the Second and Reines pushed Flat Escardos back to the exit.

“But if the main mana supply comes from the corrupted grail, wouldn't the servants be corrupted too?”

“That's were the Alternate Grail's modifications come in. It's functioning as router for the mana and a filter. We wanted to avoid another corruption so we've added a filter for the mana entering the grail, among other things. We've routed the mana from the Grail to the Alternate so it passes through these filters, but it's not perfect. The grail's ‘personality’ hinders us.”

“Personality?”

Several guest stifled groans of chagrin and chuckles as they saw an uninvited clock tower student get swallowed up by a liquid familiar and forced out of the hall.

“Being a product of true magic, we can only estimate and guess what it'll do. It seems to be having rotating reactions for the same conditions, merely because the condition was not reached by the exact way it ‘wants’. We had enough mana to make a path for Akasha when we routed the mana from the old grail but it refused to materialise! It was almost like it demanded a new ritual…”

“I see. Could I trouble you with one last question? A purely hypothetical one this time.”

“Shoot.”

Irisveil shrugged. Might as well. And Reines was coming back with El-Melloi the Second.

“If a servant from the original three grail wars was summoned and they were thus removed from the storage of the Fuyuki grail, by how much mana would the grail have to supply then?”

“Interesting question. If one servant was pulled from the storage, I'd say the grail still has enough to supply seventy percent.”

* * *

 

“Fifteen percent of the mana supplied by the grail has disappeared.”

Calculative and clear. Illyasveil remained calm even as the sudden mana vacuum pulled her mana in. Ayaka was still trying to catch her breath, and behind her Rider's form flickered. But then, Illyasveil tenfold the mana of an average mage. She could have probably supplied the mana for her servants without the help of the grail.

_Ayaka, are you okay?_

_Mordred! Where are you?_

_I'm with you but dematerialised. If this is a hostile situation, I'd suggest getting Astolfo to dematerialise instead so I can fight without straining you._

_No, no. Wait._

Ayaka steadied her breath. In, out, in, out. Illyasveil was squinting into the distance, into the the northern area of Miyama town.

“Um, Miss Einzbern-”

“It seems tonight had become really inopportune.”

These were dismissive words she had given Ayaka, though at least she had turned to face her.

“Meet me at the riverside park tomorrow at sunset. I'll hear your decision then okay?”

“Uh- okay?”

A servant flew down to her. This servant, who could be none other than Caster with her magic-laced cloak, landed with grace. Where her feet touched, a circle bloomed outwards.

“Where too?”

“A distance from the house. One kilometre will do.”

Then a flutter of black cloth filled Ayaka's vision, folding out and folding into nothing. Illyasveil and her servant were gone, like leaves in the wind.

* * *

 

For most servants, breaking the sound barrier took an A+ rank riding skill paired with a vehicle. For some, the possession of just exemplary steed would suffice. Running at that speed was not a fathomable accomplishment for any servant.

Most servants were not Cu Chullain.

Archer re-summoned his blades when he felt the trees bowing inder the wind, but Rin raised a hand.

“Its just our Lancer.”

And it was. With a sharp crack, from both the air and a felled tree, an azure figure emerged from the woods.

“Felt the mana drain. What happened? Enemy?”

Rin waved him off. Archer had run to her the second the mana drain occurred, while the opposing Archer froze as a fourth of his portals disappeared. Archer thought they were dead for sure when the second enemy servant materialised to grab the white haired girl. But he- or she, Archer couldn't tell, retreated with his master and companion. Had the enemy master experience the same mana drain?

“A Grail glitch. The mana it was supplying for your materialisation dropped suddenly. I put a little too much mana into the fight I was so I was a bit slow to adjust.”

Lancer set his spear beside his master, who Archer had propped on a road barrier.

“You were in a fight? With someone strong?”

Archer twitched. His wounds were only half healed and Lancer could see some nasty lines of red on his under-armour. If Archer was roughed that bad the other side must be pretty damn good. He hadn't dematerialised his blades yet, but he sat down beside Rin.

“Might be fun for us. Another Archer and Lancer, if what the enemy says is right. I could see the goldie being an Archer with his style but I'm not too sure about the supposed Lancer.”

A servant pair with classes that matched theirs. That would be an interesting fight indeed.

“Would love to discuss opponents and battle strategies right now but you know master-”

Lancer looked over Rin's disheveled form with a discerning eye.

“You kinda need to rest now. Knowing you, you're going to school tomorrow.”

Archer shifted.

“I agree. You're worn out Rin.”

She looked at them. Archer had closed his eyes, marking his side of the conversation over. Lancer was still expectantly leaning on his spear.

“Why do you two only get along when you're against me?”

Lancer laughed.

“Gotta agree on something.”

"Fine. But first we visit the Church."

* * *

 

At first, Shirou saw something without form. It was merely a explosion of black, sucking in light. Then it shaped itself, into something with limbs. It moved towards him, and the closer it got the clearer it became.

“Hey, you.”

Then it stepped into the moonlight, and Shirou saw a mirror.

“You're my master right?”

Avenger, the inverse berserker, stared down at him. He already memorised the physical details, since his material form was a copy of his master's, but there was more to a person than their appearance. There were the emotions behind the eyes, the minute turning of the lips that betrayed hidden feelings.

The recognition in his master's feature was absent. Where he searched he found only confusion.

“You look dazed. Are you sure you're my master?”

 _Are you sure you want to be **my** master_? He saw the command spells, he felt them bind him. But was this boy intending to use _him_ as a servant?

“What?”

Avenger was getting the distinct feeling his master had no idea what was going on.

“Hey-”

“Insolent brat!”

The voice Avenger heard was high pitched and fuming. He turned and saw the girl, curled with fury and murder in her eyes. Murder was looking to be very possible outcome, with her readying her spear.

“I'm going to kill you-”

“Berserker stop!”

Berserker? Avenger looked her down. This girl was berserker classed? Where were the signs of 「 **Mad Enhancement** 」? The mindlessness, the tunnel vision and the psychotic strength? She was in no way berserk!

The voice that halted Berserker was another servant.

“Move it Caster!”

Caster was another female, though she was more of a woman than a child. She was humanoid, but peaking from the crest of her hair were two furred ears. Avenger saw a tail swish in rhythm with her skirt.

“This guys is dangerous!”

She looked frightened of him, as if she could see what he was. Perhaps she could. She was backing away, despite having put herself between him and Berserker. He saw her ears quiver.

“He's some kind of evil deity! We can't fight this, not tonight.”

 _Oh so she could see_! That made her something very special.

Berserker looked at her, than back at him skeptically. But she took not of the fear Caster was wearing and lowered her lance.

“Some other time then, brat!”

She jumped- first onto the roof then straight out the grounds. Caster followed quickly, but she kept turning her head to see if Avenger would follow. As if he would. They were scared of him, but a short fight would make his weaknesses evident.

Once they were gone, he turned to face his master again.

“Hey master, just checking here.”

Shirou had by then lifted himself to his feet, dazed but also curious.

“Do you know anything about what's happening right now?”

“Not a clue.”

 _Well,_ Avenger thought decidedly. _We're screwed_.

“Senior!”

Much too late to the party, Tohsaka-Matou Sakura burst from the shattered remains of the house's side door.

“Sakura?”

She froze, saw the servant, and a black figure dashed out from behind her.

If he hadn't already gone through a war were his survival depended on noticing and dodging enemy sneak attacks, Rider's dagger would have decapitated him. As it was, his curved tools caught it.

“Oh shit. Hey master, if that girl is an enemy, I suggest we run.”

Shirou emerged from the storehouse in full panic.

“What?”

“Rider come back!”

The purple haired woman obeyed and skittered backwards to her master. Shirou looked between the black haired boy who had saved him and his junior.

“I still don't know what's going on!”

Avenger had never understood the desire to smack his face until then.

“I knew it. You're an accidental master aren't you?”

Shirou blinked.

“What?”

“Senior, you're a master?”

At this point Emiya Shirou gave up.

“I already told you guys, I don't know what's going on!”

* * *

 

Seraphim could not entirely prevent themselves from being seen but they could prevent themselves from being _noticed_. 

Even Ryuudou Issei, who had a particular knack for noticing the unusual, could not remember them. He saw the unusual uniform, belonging to no school in Fuyuki, but was confused when he tried to look closer. First he saw a girl with long, thick hazel hair. But he blinked and then saw a boy with flat oaken locks. He saw an a dark orange uniform, an entirely different shade from Homurahara's light brown. He saw many features, and some were fairly memorable.

But by the time Seraphim was gone, Issei could no longer remember having ever seen them.

* * *

 

Jeanne d'Arc knew that at this point, she would need to step in for some answers. She had in front of the perfect example of a _clusterfuck_.

The question was, where should she step in? She needed to choose which master she would reveal herself too, without overstepping her bounds. Her role was more to oversee the servants then the Mages. She would leave the governence of the Masters to this ‘Church Overseer’. 

"You. Enemy servant."

Magic erupted before her. Warping to the roof of a house three blocks away from the Emiya Manor was Caster and Illyasveil von Einzbern. They had seen her, and Illya had called Caster to a halt. Crashing to their side moments later was Berserker, growling and hefting his blade.

“What is your purpose here?”

Ruler looked between the three.

_Yes, this would be a good place to start._

Ruler stuck her flag into the ground and undid her gauntlet. 

"Cherubim class master. My name is Jeanne d'Arc, ruler class servant to the holy grail."

On Ruler's bare arm was proof of her status. Command spells, spiraling and flowering up her wrist and to her shoulder. The marks hummed with magic, with power.

"We need to talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now who can guess Seraphim's identity?


	7. Page 5, [Odds and Ends]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 1 is not over and also nowhere near clearing up. As the dawn comes closer, one more battle takes place. Sorry for last week's absence, it was exam week ...

 

“So there's a secret magic war going in Fuyuki called the Holy Grail War.”

“Yes.”

“Where mages summon servants who are actually resurrected heroes and aim to take the holy grail.”

“That's the holy grail war.”

“Master are you perhaps not only clueless, but also an idiot?”

Shirou frowned at his servant. The person who had named himself as ‘Berserker’ had shown himself in the past hour to be a crass man. His words had been crude, and he often mocked Shirou's cluelessness ( _Really, you weren't aware you joined a death match?_ ).

“I'm just checking. You really know to lay on the insults don't you Berserker?”

“It was very valid question, not an insult.”

That did seem to be how he went with his words. He went for blunt and as far as Shirou was concern blunt was getting closer to rude.

“So you're a participant of this grail war?”

Sakura blushed, as if it embarrassed her. She hadn't felt much when she was originally chosen, but as she grew and began to understand just what she had been signed up for she grew slightly shy of her masterhood. She didn't have Rin's way of going about things. Her sister was the one who forced her way through life with unfaltering confidence. Sakura was demure beside her. But she knew she wasn't worthless. She had skills not even Rin had…

“I am. There aren't much Magi in Fuyuki for the Grail to choose from and who it chooses, it gets.”

Sakura had heard about a system for the second and Grail War where selected magi who were reluctant to join gave their rights as master to the church overseer. The new grail rejected this system. Why, she didn't know. For a Grail that was supposedly better than it's predecessor, it sure came with a lot of faults.

“Okay. So we, um, we're enemies or something?”

Sakura started. Behind her Rider shifted into a different position- one that Shirou recognised as ‘flight or fight’.

“Of course they are.”

Berserker answered, and the first stutters of Sakura's denial were stamped out.

“The objective of the Grail war can only be achieved through the killing of servants, and the easiest way to do that is to kill their master.”

Berserker smiled, and Shirou got the sense that _something was not quite right with this person_. He prodded a finger into Shirou's chest.

“And that's you, dear master of mine.”

* * *

 

Rin didn't like Kotomine Church. Stepping into it's bounded field left her senses off kilter, as if her brain had been re-arranged. She supposed she could attribute it to church magecraft and her magecraft being fundamentally different. But still, she would have liked to avoid any excessive contact with it.

Luckily the feeling only ever lasted a few seconds and at the outermost boundary. She was able to calmly walk to the iron wrought doors and knock softly at them.

“Hmm? It's the Tohsaka heir.”

Kotomine Tokisada's aloofness was something of interest to Rin. He poked his head out from the doors grinning, in a kind way. From the very few church members she had met, she garnered that the group at the very least disliked mages. It was always ‘heretic here and heretic there’ with them. Kotomine's amiableness was refreshing.

“And what brings you to church, Tohsaka Rin?”

“Just reporting a transgression.”

Rin felt a little too bare without her servants, but they weren't allowed on neutral ground. And this was neutral ground wasn't it? It's not like she was going to get attacked.

“A malevolent bounded field was discovered to be enclosing Homurahara High School earlier in the day. Since most mages not participating in the war aren't in Fuyuki there's a high probability it's the work of a master.”

“I see… violating the rule that prohibits the involvement of non-mages in the war.”

Tokisada sighed.

“While it true that it is very likely to be the work of a master, I can't do much without solid evidence.”

Rin deflated slightly.

“I thought so. But I thought it was better to report this to overseer. Sorry for troubling you then.”

Tokisada patted her head. If he wasn't someone Rin needed on her side, she would have snapped at him.

“It's fine Tohsaka. You did great reporting this, because now I an be on the look out. You should get going soon. The grail war is still going on after all.”

“All right then.”

As the glaring red of Rin's clothes hazed and disappeared through the bounded field, Tokisada's mask sagged.

“This job is more tiresome than I thought…”

He had identified the woman he caught earlier as Hisau Maiya, Irisveil von Einzbern's other spouse. This was a dangerous person for him to confine in the church, by virtue of also being Emiya Kiritsugu's spouse. Should he release her? But if she was a little too interested in the church, he could get into trouble… He would get into trouble.

And then there was this mage going around and increasing his paperwork… Who needed a bounded field like that? Placed over such a public area with no significance whatsoever. Some intentional troublemaker? A tactic to draw attention? Well that was ballsy.

Lastly there was this problem here.

“I'm back. I waited for Tohsaka to leave since I picked a fight with her just now.”

“No wonder she looked a little rough- Caren Claudia Ortensia-Kotomine.”

She peaked through the rim of her beret and the fluff of hair framing her face.

“I was under the impression the standard exorcist uniform came with a skirt.”

“Shit.”

“Language!”

* * *

 

“The automated defence system of the Holy Grail that uses the FATE system to generate a unique, independent servant when it senses an anomaly among the summoned servants- that's you?”

Illyasveil had slid off the roof first, opting for stable ground. Jeane followed after, then Berserker and lastly Caster, who's moving bounded field expanded over them.

A field to dissuade accidental witnesses- good precaution.

“I am the ruler class servant. I have shown you proof,”

Her command spells, two for each servant in the war.

“And I have given you my name. As an Einzbern, you can invoke the 「 **Right of Justeaze** 」can you not?”

Illyasveil stiffened. Only an Einzbern was supposed to know about that. Not even Kiritsugu and Maiya knew. Did the Grail tell her?

「 **Right of Justeaze** 」was an loophole in the holy grail that allowed Justeaze Lirich von Einzbern, one of the creators of the grail, to discern the identity of a summoned heroic spirit. It was a complex technique that required delving into the grail's FATE system. One needed a stable connection with the grail and ample mana. Many could supple the latter but those who could achieve the former were far and few between. An Einzbern homunculus, who were closer to being an mass of mana circuits disguised as a human, would easily fulfil both requirements, since they were originally designed to be vessels of the grail. Furthermore, they were designed with Justeaze as their model. They were genetic copies of her, physically perfect down to the last strand of DNA.

This ability required conscious effort, a dangerous thing for the middle of battle. But this woman claimed to be neutral. (And how was she expecting to beat her Berserker hmm?)

Illyasveil activated the 「 **Right of Justeaze** 」.

She mentally fought her way down, past the archived experience of her predecessors. She reached for the root, the first of all the Einzbern Homunculi, their model. She reached into the remains of Justeaze Lirich von Einbern and formed the key. With that key, she reached into a different place, down a darker current but not too deep or she would get sucked in. She stopped at the gate of the Grail and unlocked the FATE system.

FATE was the name of the perfected system for the summoning of heroic spirits from the archive known as the Throne of Heroes. To summon a person who once lived was uncommon, but to summon an exact copy of a hero was rare. But heroic spirits could not be used as mere familiars. A summoned spirit would carry his reputation, his essence and his glory with him. He would bring a noble phantasm. Binding such power and maintaining the existence of someone who disobeyed the natural law of the world- that was the impossible FATE system. Impossible, unless you had a miracle.

And what was the holy grail but the most epic miracle?

When Illyasveil opened her eyes _she saw_. And as she saw, she learned.

This was the servant designated as Ruler. This was a hero the grail deemed capable of ruling over 14 servants.

“Okay.”

Caster eased. Berserker moved his stone blade away. And Illyasveil addressed the servant before her.

“What exactly it is you need from me, Jeane d'Arc?”

And this was what she came for wasn't it? The right question however, was hard to form.

“Tell me about what you've seen so far. Did anything strike you as odd?”

* * *

 

So far the only casualties were his dining table and part of the wall. But if Shirou didn't stop them soon, that indecently dressed woman was going to end up killing Berserker!

If you took out the knives, one could describe Rider and Berserker's position as suggestive. As it was, Rider had slammed into Berserker, knives aimed at his neck. But he had blocked with his odd, curved knives and the force had knocked him back. Rider had continued pushing, until she ended up straddling him.

“R-Rider!”

The blindfolded servant ignored her master.

“If you want to call yourself an enemy then I will treat you as such.”

“Oi, I just pointed out that facts. Aren't you overreacting, miss stripper.”

Shirou flustered. It was true that the woman was dressed in such a way but to call her out on it was-

“Berserker!”

“What? How come you guys get so angry when I point facts out?”

He did seem to think he was in the right. He was calmly pearing at Shirou with slight confusion. Hey master, are you seriously this obtuse?

“There's alway a kinder way to say something…”

“Buttering up you words hide their meaning and is a waste of energy.”

Sakura's voice broke through their dissent.

“Rider.”

Her voice, that became oddly firm and dangerously close to anger, prompted the servant to look at her.

“Senior isn't an enemy. I don't want my senior as an enemy. We'll ally with him, okay?”

Rider removed herself from Berserker and stood.

“If that's what you want.”

“Can you afford to have allies girl?”

Shirou had the distinct impression Berserker had no concept of value for his life.

“My master is kind. Why don't you just accept that?”

At least this time, Rider's blades hadn't flashed out.

“Or does you're haughtiness as a god prevent you from having manners?”

Berserker's face furrowed and twitched. How could she tell? As divine being he was relatively weak, so there were very few who could tell what his ‘species’ was… Berserker grinned in realisation.

“One divine being to another I suppose?”

This crazy, knife wielding Rider was a type of goddess. What a surprise. First the fox girl and now this harlot… well even if they could tell what he was, discerning his name was an entirely different matter.

“What are you talking about?”

Fate, that cruel and playful creature, seemed determined to have Shirou make his way through the night clueless. A voice from the door prevented him from getting his answers.

“Shirou! I'm home!”

Illya.

Shirou jumped up and started pushing Berserker out the door.

“Hey!”

“Sorry Sakura! That's my younger sister there and I can't really let her see this so-”

“I'll wait at the next house over. You really need to know what you've gotten into senior so meet me at the intersection later okay?”

Sakura, Rider and Berserker were already out on the courtyard. Shirou could hear Illya coming down the hallway.

“I'm really sorry about this Sakura-”

Sakura put her hand on Shirou's arm. Rider had an arm around her waist, ready to carry her off.

“It's fine Senior.”

Then they were off, with Berserker trailing after them discontentedly.

“Shirou!”

Illya had finally reached the door.

She saw her brother standing out in the courtyard and frowned.

“What are you doing out there?”

He seemed flustered, as if she had caught him doing something embarrassing.

“N-nothing! Just looking at the sky…”

* * *

 

Sajyou Ayaka was lost.

Metaphorically, she was completely confused as to her position in the holy grail. Her initial plan was to stay on the defence and only fight those who wanted to fight her. But her servants were so restless… and she hadn't thought about allies at all! To have a companion other than her servants in the war… she hadn't foreseen that.

Literally, she was completely confused as to her position in Fuyuki.

“I turned left just now…”

_Ayaka, just let Rider fly you over town. It's faster._

“That's dangerous to do now that the war has started…”

Ayake turned the corner at the same time someone else did.

The figure Ayaka had bumped into was wearing a dark brown uniform- wait no, it was orange. Ayaka had bumped into a girl- no her long hair was a trick of the light it was a boy with short hair.

Ayaka backed away, her ears buzzing as magic accustomed eyes noticed a deceit.

“U-uwa!”

“M- Hakuno you should be more careful.”

A frowning foreigner rounded the corner. A companion?

Ah, I've knocked into them I should apologise…

But once the foreigner's face came into the light of a streetlamp, second-hand anger surged through Ayaka.

M-Mordred?

“Ayaka back away!”

She couldn't stop Saber from materialising, and by the time Ayaka had control of her thoughts the blade had already been swung.

“S-Saber!”

But her blade hadn't cleaved the man in two. It had stopped short, blocked by another blade.

This man is a servant!

Ayaka backed away.

“You- Gawain!”

Magic furled over the man's body in smokey curls.

“Traitor!”

And Ayaka watched as their blades clashed for a second time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the names of all 7 masters have been revealed!


	8. Page 6, [The arrival of dawn]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day, or more accurately, night 1 closes with not much physical bang, but shirou gets a mental bang. Unfortunate kid.

One soul was a prince, a king, a bastard child and a traitor.

She had been raised behind the glass walls she had been made in. She had grown gazing upon the face of the madman who was her mother. She first grew her hate, then she grew her skill in the castle of knights. But she never stopped growing her hate, as with each day she grew her skill she gazed upon the object of her fury.

_Her beautiful father._

The other soul came from the same land, the same age and the same castle. He was a boy, then a man then a knight. But he was raised as a child should be raised by the woman who birthed him. And when he grew his skill, he gazed upon his king with respect and devotion.

_Truly, a worthy king for knights._

Both played part in the terrible fall of the object of their attention. The first sparked the rebellion. The second denied the aid they needed.

And they both hated each other down the core.

* * *

 

“I'm surprised that you found a new master, lapdog!”

“And you've found someone else to stab in the back!”

This dangerous argument, where their anger destroyed grounds and walls and buffeted mad winds, drowned any attempts to calm them.

Rider had Ayaka in his arms, a more solid hold than the groaning streetlight posts. An Archer, with a crossbow gleaming under the folds of a green cloak, stood in front of the other master. Ayaka hadn't been able to much, and her glimpse was worthless considering the heavy concealment the other master was wearing.

“Archer, Saber's angry. No, he'a hurt somehow.”

Archer shifted his position to netter shield his master.

“I know Hakuno. The risk for using a knight from a group of equally famed knights was that his companions might turn out to be an enemy.”

Kishinami Hakuno, who's appearance had been seen but not discerned, tugged down Archer's coat in stress.

“But we thought the only danger was having Saber fight an old friend. This is completely different!”

“In more fortunate way.”

Archer watched as the enemy Saber began a furious barrage of wild stabs.

“He's fighting of his own will. That's a lot better than what a lot of us have been doing.”

Archer shifted his bow back under his cloak as the winds began to abate with the Saber's falling back to calmer attacks. If need be, he'd use the poison…

“Hey, Archer!”

Surprised, he looked up.

Backed by the moon, a Rider class servant straddled a hippogriff. He, for that was what his voice suggested despite the feminine appearance, smiled down with narrowed eyes.

“I'm not going to let you do anything sneaky. If you want a fight, I'm right here.”

 _Shit_. How fast was his stead? Would his arrows be faster? One way to find out. Archer's hand tugged in the crossbow strings, and an arrow materialised itself.

“Disengage, all of you!”

Something white, glowing with what Rider could call holy light, cut between the two Saber's. The force parted them, and their anger gave away to confusion, then alarm.

_Who the hell has enough power to do that?_

The intervener was an armoured woman, and the weapon she had used- why it was not a weapon at all. It was standard, to be held in front of an army and guide them to battle. The flag it bore was white, bearing a golden crest.

“Who do you think you are, interrupting a fight?”

The first Saber snarled at the newcomer. With her enemy's words she had been revealed to be Mordred, the knight of treachery. The second Saber had been named, through words of spite, to be the white knight Gawain.

She who stood between them named herself.

“My name is Jeanne d'Arc. Heed my words. Stand down.”

The maiden of Orleans put force into her words. She inlaid within her order her right and power as 「 **Ruler** 」, who was sent to oversee the servants.

They felt it. They could have tried to ignore it but they felt it. This was not a request. This was a command they would and have to heed.

“Ruler class servant.”

Jeanne pulled up her standard to her side, in a position of ease. The Sabers followed suit. Archer lowered his bow. Rider set his hippogriff down but left his master on the steed as he alighted.

“Why do you intervene?”

Gawain's words were near the same, but his tone carried all the difference.

“The rules state that you battles must remain secret. Dawn is upon is. I ask you to retire for the day and resume whatever qualms you have with each other tomorrow, knights of Camelot.”

Mordred and Gawain moved their attention from Jeanne and to each other. They measured each other, and batted away the raging fury they felt. Mordred would not mind perhaps, letting this symbol of her father's greatness go for the night. Gawain would not mind perhaps, letting this bastard child who usurped his king's throne go for the night.

“Alright. Some other time, traitor.”

“Fine. Try not to die lapdog.”

Their master's mirrored each other in their relief. It was never Hakuno's wish to fight, and Ayaka herself never sought such mindless battle. Archer looked at Gawain with what might have been understanding deep in his eyes. Rider looked grateful to have avoided the brunt of the confrontation and ushered Saber unto the hippogriff.

They both walked away slowly, Archer still hiding his master under his cloak and Rider pulling his steed's reins. Ruler watched their paths begin to split before remembering something.

_I feel as though I've barely done my job at all. I'll at least even the field with this._

“Seraphim. To have seven servants is a dangerous thing.”

All six froze.

“To supply that much mana is feasible but your command spells burn for a reason.”

Then Ruler left, the vacuum of her absence sparking something in the two groups. They began to rush away, fast and far away from each other.

Ayaka in particular was rushing in fear. Seven servants? Seraphim has already won half the war!

“Saber, Rider.”

“Ayaka?”

Saber looked at her as best as she could riding behind her and with her heavy armour dispelling. Only Rider who ran by them could see the determination in Ayaka's eyes.

“We're allying with Cherubim!”

* * *

 

This look Shirou had seen on Illya's face fairly often. The pout and slight furrowing of eyes- she was being suspicious of him.

“Where have you been? You weren't at home by eight so I went to the convenience store for food! You better cook a feast tomorrow if you want to make it up to me!

“Aha, I was, um-”

“Son of a bitch.”

Shirou started. _He was supposed to have left! And did he just say-_

“You can't tell me you don't know about the war.”

It _was_ Berserker, and Shirou vaguely saw a panicked Sakura chasing after. But the majority of his vision is taken up by the rage on Berserker's face and the finger he pressed to his chest. Then he follows the finger as it points to his sister.

“You're sister is an Einzbern.”

What was the significance of that? Why were his words so venomous? In this moment, Shirou felt his uselessness with unnerving clarity. _I don't know anything!_

But never let it be said that Emiya Shirou was weak. He continued to ask himself, _will continue as I am, unable to help?_ He would perhaps become a useful hero later, but now he had to focus on what was in front of him.

To his alarm, Illya recognised Berserker.

Unbeknownst to him, his servant triggered something within Illya as a homunculus. Her system, for that was the most accurate description for it, was activated by innate fear. Archived memories from her predecessors, other homunculi, surged through her core. To the fore front of this torrent came the memories of the Einzbern homunculus designed for the third grail war. With it, Illya was given a complete identification and run down of the servant before her.

“ _ **Inverse Berserker**_.”

Shirou froze as Illya breathed out the words with a cold, ragged breath. It lacked emotion, her voice and it did not very much sound like her sister.

“ _ **Avenger class servant of the Third Grail War.**_ ”

Sakura approached them slowly and quietly. Avenger? What the heck was that?

“ _ **Angra Mainyu**_.”

Disturbed as he was, Shirou stepped forward in an effort to break the trance. His efforts were not wasted, for Illya's next words truly belonged to her. However, he did not quite expect that following course of action.

“Berserker, Caster. Kill that servant.”

Said servant expressed himself clearly and shortly before a stone weapon came down on him.

“Oh _fuck_.”

* * *

 

The Matou residence was cold.

When Sakura stepped within it's walls, her warmth was at a constant battle with the overbearing, resounding emptiness of the house. The signs of life she left behind in abundance found themselves buried under a grey blanket of dust and stale air. Leaving windows open proved to be ineffective. Everything Sakura did, short of burning down the house, proved to he ineffective.

Matou Shinji had grown up in this house. He knew how it worked and by now he might as well be a part of it.

“Grandfather.”

Shinji was given three rules for calling upon his grandfather.

Do not call him when Sakura was in the house.  
Do not call him unless it was a matter of utmost importance or he had to make a report.  
Do not yell.

Shinji had fulfilled all three rules, and he was hoping to please his grandfather tonight.

_ Shinji. Come down boy. _

‘Down’ used to be the basement with the worm pit and the bones grandfather wouldn't say belonged to who. Down, ever since the third day Sakura arrived, was the room at the end of the secret passage in the library.

Shinji had discovered this passage as child but as child he suspected it led to the basement and desisted going down. The basement was off limits because it was solely grandfather's place.

When Shinji arrived at the room, which had the basement's damp, dark and worms but none of the space, his grandfather was waiting.

_ Well boy? _

He cleared his throat.

“The first few battles of the grail war have begun. Einzbern has a homunculus, as you guessed. And there's a malevolent bounded field over the school. It's been disabled but if you'd like grandfather,”

And here was what Shinji had to offer to please his grandfather.

“I could tamper with it, maybe use it for you?”

It is not a bad silence that follows, so Shinji inwardly sighs in relief. His grandfather is not decidedly pleased but he is not mad or irked and that is good.

_ Very well boy. I give you instructions on what the field may be used for. _

A pause, then Matou Zouken decided to continue.

_Perhaps you might have some use. I will let you use a tool of mine._

* * *

 

Archer and Lancer stay materialised, because their sleeping princess is one prone to insomnia and faking rest. But it seems that tonight had been tiresome enough, because the rise and fall of her chest remains calm and tuned to the slow sound of warm breaths. Lancer perches on the window, while Archer seats himself on the roof. Both know that no one will see them through the bounded field of Tohsaka manor but Archer remains capable of seeing out over a good portion of the town.

He notes the scuffle at Emiya manor, but he ignores in favour for a time where he might be questioned about it. He doesn't need to draw attention there. He knows that boy is not the one he seeks.

Lancer and Archer watch the sun rise over Fuyuki in silence. When there is full circle above the lowest of the mountains, Archer enters the room and they watch Rin instead. They wonder which one she dreams of now.

The servants know that when they close their eyes in an attempt at rest and an imitation of sleep they will see a mirror of a dream.

Archer sees the hours before she summons him most often, and while the secondhand terror brings unease to him it is the fact the terror is hers that strikes him deeply. To put terror and her name in the same sentence is wrong to him, more so as she grows to resemble the Rin he knew from a different place.

Lancer sees frustration and turmoil most often, as she struggles to fight down an inferiority she imagines to be there. In way, Lancer wishes for her to remain a child for a child rules her own world, standing on top of a simple place of simple joy. But Lancer knows that Rin has been born to a place where children cannot survive as children for very long.

They both hope she lays dreamless, but Rin does not. She dreams of a person alone on a hill of swords and spear embedded into a child.

* * *

 

When the first rays of light hit the servants, they pause. When the same light reaches their masters, the pause is no longer hesitant wait but an order.

Illyasviel makes her voice loud and clear.

“Stand down.”

Sakura need only wave her hand for Saber to disengage her blade from Caster's staff and Rider to back away from Berserker.

Shirou need not do anything, because there's not much Avenger can do from where he's pinned under Berserker's blade.

“So this is how it's going to be Shirou.”

Illya speaks straight to him, and ignores everyone else in between them.

The courtyard is wrecked by now, but Shirou cannot devote any part of his mind to caring.

“Next time meet we're going to be enemies, okay big brother?”

There is something in Illya she will not admit to having. It is envy and the ridiculous notion that her father chose her brother over her. It is a notion she fights down, because she knows just how ridiculous it is, when it was her own family that dissuaded her father from being her her father. But Illya, who is unable to grow beyond the appearance she had at thirteen years old, retains part the psyche of an child abandoned in the woods.

She declares the rift between her brother and her physical, and silently leaves with a spark of magic.

To Shirou, whom she has left behind, she has shattered the piece that he needs to hold his world together. Everything his life was has been tossed into the past. He's been left in some manner of alien planet, where magic is real, his sister is an enemy, life is tossed around in a game war and people who get killed don't die.

Sakura watches carefully enough to guess what might happen next but it is Avenger, sharing a connection more intimate then he will admit, who catches Shirou when he falls unconscious.

“Well, guess I can't expect you to remain totally unfazed, master.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going to clean up the first few chapters and do a little tweaking but highly likely i will post a new chapter next friday as the entirety of night 2 and part of day 3 have been planned out. Even more plus, its the september break here.


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